The Meet opens to the public at 4:30 pm and finishes at approximately 9:00 pm. Exhibitors will need to arrive between 3:00 pm
and 4.30pm.

NitrOlympX coverage.17th August: The Eurodragster.com team are in place at Hockenheim to bring you all the news from
the NitrOlympX, which starts tomorrow (Friday), in association with
John Woolfe Racing.

Our coverage will consist of the usual real-time reports and results throughout each day, and a photo gallery at the end
of each day. Our reports will be in the popular split-screen format as BW Timing will be posting qualifying sheets and
ladders. Unfortunately there will be no pit notes this weekend as Simon is away.

No webcast from us this weekend but the good news is that the Trakbak Racing / Track Group Europe free Web TV will be
available on Saturday and Sunday.

We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences tomorrow, but in the meantime you can
check out our NitrOlympX coverage, which also includes links to the official entry list and the Web TV ready for
Saturday and Sunday, by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

My wife and I are deeply upset at losing a good friend, Dave Sag Southworth. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to know him and his family as
a racer and socially as well.

I first met Sag when I was racing in the Ultimate Street Bike series back in 1985. He still had Jeepers Creepers and it was at a one-off meet
at RAF Bitteswell in Leicester. We were chatting about rock'n'Roll and it turned out we both used to go and watch Teddy Boy band Crazy Cavan in
the Roundhouse, Newton Hill, Wakefield.

When I switched to drag racing on four wheels I stuck to Jaguar power and Sag had Rover power, so it was always great rivalry on the track, mainly
at York, for a few seasons until I had a crash in Barry Giles' old altered Tequila Sunrise. I always admired what could be done with scrapyard
parts and little money in their team, and with Elaine's quest for sponsorship the achievements were plenty and the whole family crewed.

We enjoyed the Americana show as well as other events when not at the track. Daddy Cool will be missed by many. Godspeed Sag.

Entry is still open; official entry forms can be downloaded from the track's web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee by bacs rather than credit/debit card or cheque as this cuts down on administrative
charges and time. APIRA's account details can be found on the entry forms.

Moores announce retirement.15th August: The UK's Roger and Dave Moore have announced their retirement from Pro Modified. The brothers' last
outing with the Viper was at the recent Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway and the car is now for sale. Roger, Dave and Lucy
Moore write:

Our first trip to Santa Pod with a race car was in 1988 with our 400 ci Pontiac-powered Triumph Herald. Much fun was had as the car
evolved over the years, culminating in a best ET of 7.87 at 170 mph.

In about 2004 we decided to build a Pro Mod, mainly to keep Andy Robinson quiet as he had been nagging us to enter the class for years!
Nine fantastic years have passed in Pro Mod with achievements of first, second and third in the MSA Championship. The dedication and
hard work from all the team resulted in a best ET of 6.38 at 218 mph.

Being asked to show the car at the RAC Club rotunda at the 2013 Night Of Champions, when we received our trophy, was a huge honour and
was only the second drag racer ever to be displayed in this prestigious venue.

It has been a brilliant journey, lots of hard work and late nights, and many friends made going back many years: Steve Johnson; Martyn
Jones and Crunch; Pat and Steve Talbot; Tony and Ray Guy; Gordon and Alan Smith; and Chris Orthodoxou.

From Pro Mod: Andy, whose enthusiasm for every level of the sport is infectious, Kate, Stef and Luke Robinson; Kev Slyfield (get well
soon mate), James Woodsford, Clive Phayer; Bert Englefield and Andy Wright (Senior and Junior); Roger Johansson and Alex Olsson who
have almost single-handedly kept pro Nitrous racing alive in Europe, thank you for all the advice even though I am a stubborn
Englishman who doesn't listen.

From Santa Pod: All the Race Directors from Carlo Gandolfi to Carole Ismail; Ian Marshall; Robin Jackson; Angie Daly and the entire top
end crew who are some of the hardest working unsung heroes. Pushing thirty Pro Mod cars round the corner when the whole class has stopped
short is no mean feat.

Photographers: Andy Willsheer; Roger Gorringe; Rose Hughes and Ivan Sansom. Thanks for all the lovely photographs which will provide lots
of great memories in the years to come.

Jane Moore, who has a birthday at the beginning of September, has spent more years than I care to mention at Santa Pod for it. To all the
crew, but particularly to their wives who have let us borrow them for countless weekends, thank you.

Last but not least Tog, Simon, Kirstie, Julian and all the staff at Eurodragster.com who have been a tremendous asset to European drag
racing over the years (Thank you, you're welcome - Ed).

I'm sure there are hundreds more people whom we should have mentioned but have forgotten, but that's the problem with getting old.

Germany calling.15th August: Darren Prentice and Ian Marshall, who are working on the track prep team at Hockenheim,
says that the track surface seems to be coming in nicely despite a day and a half of rain before the traditional Public
Race Days curtain-opener:

After rain delays on both Saturday and Sunday mornings quite a lot of racing was done with large queues on both days. The
event was enjoyed by the large crowds which this race track always seem to attract. A wide and varied range of public cars
and bikes, and a very generous sprinkling of race cars and bikes, was just what the track needed to get that all-important
racing groove started.

As we write we are now, ironically, basking in the thirty-degree heat trying to get some that final rubber on the track surface.
I will leave you with some more photographs from the weekend then you can keep up with the
live race reports on
Eurodragster.com and via the live Web TV from Saturday.

Once again a massive thank you Michael Vogel and his entire team who have been with us every step of the way working to make this
the best possible race. For those of you not lucky enough to be joining us out here at the Hockenheimring we will see you back at
the Pod.

Three Englishmen on Fuel.15th August: UK Fuel Altered pilot Nick Davies says that US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, where the Havoc
team raced this past weekend, is quite a facility:

Concrete quarter-mile; huge, permanent stands; four-storey tower with integral viewing. Quite a place. The Northern Nationals is a huge bracket race with an added Pro
show to help crowd attendance. Quarter-mile Top Fuel Dragsters, Nostalgia Funny Cars, Jet Dragsters, even the Precision Turbo Pro Mod Camaro testing for a bit of extra spice!

There were six altereds in attendance: the 'Bowling Green Four' comprising Havoc, Rat Trap, Bradfords and Nanook joined by Mike Hilsabeck's
Arizona Thunder and a local big-show style Transformer as a late addition. A one-day deal with a Pro session at 5:00 pm, quick turnaround and a second run at 7:30
pm.

Havoc arrived from Tennessee close to 1:00 pm and we reacquainted ourselves with everything we hadn't seen since the beginning of June! Axle shafts in, new
coil fitted, clutch adjusted, pushrods installed and valves set, tyre rollout adjusted, fuel mixed, blower pulley changed back (we were set to 'kill' at Bowling Green just
before electrical gremlins). The boys from the UK were ready...

Dave Hough, owner of Nanook, was the ringmaster for the weekend and paired us with our old adversary, Ron Hope in Rat Trap. "Let's get it on lads!".

Into the right lane and the sun shining. Roll into stage and the Tree runs. All-too-familiar cylinders dropped, picked up, then start to haul. Track is good and I see
nothing 'til the chutes are pulled. Feels good. All smiles as the crew arrives... 6.34 at 234.99 mph. Nice.

Forget the high-fives, there's another run to make and we have two hours and a crew of three. A point worth making: we have less crew than many but the way
Scott, Rob and I work together is enviable to many. Having worked together for five years or so, we have come to an understanding. Things get tight, things get
warm but each goes about their business with a common goal. It works.

The 7:30 call comes and we're paired with Nanook. The US team want revenge for the Bowling Green race and have it loaded. The UK team expect it and have a
couple of plans of our own. Right lane again, burnout completed and into pre-stage. And sit there. A wise old sage once told me "Protect the clutch! Under no
circumstances stage first. If they make you wait, then wait!". And so I wait. And wait. Vincent isn't going in so I move. We leave together, cylinders drop
then re-light. Two hundred feet out the little green car stands on its now shorter wheelie bars. For years, the car has driven on its wheelie bars and it's comfortable.
The new short wheelie bars aren't dialled-in quite so well yet so when it comes down, the barrier is a little closer than is comfortable. By this time, Nanook
is hauling. Give it up.

Nanook went through with a 6.11 and a few sacrificed pistons. They wanted it bad and deserved it. Great team. We came away 1-1 for the weekend and 1-1
against Nanook. All to play for at the finale of our tour, the California Hot Rod Reunion in October. Be there. We'll be racing for Queen and country.

Once again thanks to our tour partners: Beech Underwriting Services, Lawrie Gatehouse and the NFAA, US Automotive, Rat Trap Racing,
Lucas Oil, Goodyear Tyres, Motorstate Distributing, Thacker & Friends, the Sherratt family, ARP Fasteners and all the supporters
back home for your kind words of encouragement - it is greatly appreciated! Thanks also to all the supporters at home in the UK,
whom we also greatly appreciate!

Editor's note: We will shortly be departing for Germany so news updates and Swap Meet postings will be on a best-endeavours
basis from tomorrow (Wednesday). Please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com,
though, and we will post when we can. Before anyone pulls Your News Editor up on his oft-stated view that a large proportion of Facebook
updates may as well start with the words "Dear Burglar", please note that Eurodragster.com HQ will not be empty and that anyone who
fancies taking on a territorially-outraged Mrs Tog is very welcome to try it.

Two tributes.14th August: Lee and Sue Johnstone were saddened to hear of the death of their good friend and racing buddy,
UK Comp Altered and then bike racer Dave Burfitt. "We raced in the Jaguar heydays of the 1970s and 1980s, with our Apple County Cannon
against Dave's Boss Cat", they say. "He was a great competitor on the track but also a great fellow off the track, always a smile and ready to chat. Our paths had
not crossed so much of late, but our family and old team-mates hold fond memories of Dave, his car, his team and his family."

On behalf of himself and wife Carolyne, Graham Beckwith writes with memories of late Wild Bunch racer and supporter Dave 'Sag' Southworth. "I first came
across SAG at a fairly early Belle Vue show", says Graham. "He wore the famous illuminated belt buckle. When I saw that, I was fascinated by the fact that there could
be real, original characters in this world of hot rods and drag racing. SAG was always someone I was pleased to come across throughout my involvement with drag racing.
Always an original thinking man, always a top class genuine Northener (despite being a Lancastrian), and always a gentleman. I will miss him deeply. Wherever he is now,
I hope they're prepared to Rock and Roll! RIP SAG, you lovely man. Our thoughts are with Elaine and the family."

Swift snippets.14th August: Thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from
Ultimate Street Car, which you can check out by clicking here or by
clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Thanks to Stephen Billings for letting us know that if you are attending Santa Pod Raceway's Junior Drag Racing Fun Day on
Thursday 24th August then you may be affected by roadworks which will close Wollaston Road in Irchester. You can check
out a map and more information by clicking here.

The latest addition to our Jeff Bull
Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet is UK Modurstang Pro ET racer James
Forster's Mustang. The package on offer looks very reasonable to us and makes a great entry to racing, although the car could
also very easily be reverted to street-legal. If you are interested then click on the link above or on the Jeff Bull Swap Meet
link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com and take a look at Cars For Sale.

No news update yesterday (Ministering to a sorry-for-herself greyhound and doing Hockenheim pottering - Ed) so we were
unable to say a big Happy Birthday to UK drag bike legend Chris Hannam. Hope you had a great day Cannon.

Success at Clastres.14th August: Didier Canicave tells us that the second round of France's ATD Championships, which took place
at Clastres Dragway, was efficiently-organised and turned out perfectly:

The track, the organisation, the timing team and the race officials were perfect, and we had two days of really cool weather with
sunshine all weekend. It was a real pleasure after the unlucky Rivannazanno race with two days of rain. More than a hundred racers
on two and four wheels came from all over Europe.

The Junior race went to H Redshaw who won the final against C Dubois. Super Street A went to L Mausquet, B to F Peeters' Dodge
Challenger, and C for N Chevassus' Pontiac. In Pro ET it was a big battle all weekend for the most popular class and the winner
was F Besset with his Chevy Nova in a hard final against F Dubois and his purple Chevy Nova. The big one, Super Pro ET with many
cars in sevens, went to P Dubois in his grey dragster against E Baila who had come all the way from Italy with his Chevy Nova.

ATD and Clastres Dragway both showed us that the place has become a real cool European venue for drag racing. All of the racers
from drivers from France, Italy, England, Belgium, Holland and Germany went away impetient to return for the next race.

UK Top Sportsman review.14th August: Paul Marston writes with a review of the Seventh Annual JT Construction UK Top Sportsman event
which was hosted at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway:

With twenty five entries from the very best and fastest Sportsman doorslammer teams in the country, and with twelve potential
seven-second doorslammers amongst their numbers, it had all the signs of being one hell of an event and didn't let us down.

Freshly-rebuilt and débuting at Top Sportsman were Jack Brewster's Pontiac Firebird now sporting an all-ally New Century-blocked
14-71 Blown Big Block Chevy. The second début in competition was Joel Kerr's Pontiac Starchief, again sporting a BBC with another
14-71 supercharger. Then there was George Chiarella with his '34 Ford Coupe Straight to the Point, sporting a huge 106mm
single turbo on an injected LS motor. All in all a star-studded entry list of some of the biggest players in Sportsman doorslammer racing
today, capped off by the Moore brothers and their stunning Dodge Viper Pro Mod powered by a 736 ci fuel-injected, nitrous Fulton motor but
this time with Crew Chief Dave Moore driving instead of usual shoe Roger. You can find the full list of entries on the Eurodragster.com
Mopar EuroNationals
Event Coverage page.

Friday's Fast Bracket went five rounds in total and had some seriously close races. Adding to the mix this year was a very strong
presence of race teams from York Raceway: Pel Norman, Marc Manning, Spencer Tidswell, 2017 Street Racer Champion Russ Pursley, Simon Boot,
and Pete Youhill and Joel Kerr both sporting new rides.

When the dust had settled it was Paul Letchford in his 1968 Camaro and Simon Boot in his Camaro in the final. It was a tough battle with
a double break-out and Paul Letchford came out the worthy winner. So the Fast Bracket still holds the distinction of never having had a
repeat winner in its nine-race history. Plus for the first time ever we actually got the Fast Bracket done and won on Friday!

On Saturday with nothing scheduled on track until the evening some teams relaxed whilst others joined the RWYB queue to get some practice
runs in prior to the one-shot Heads-Up qualifier, which was moved forward due to the threatening weather which was rapidly closing in.
At the end of the one-shot qualifier there were, bizarrely, only fifteen cars qualified due to heavy attrition amongst competitors who
suffered various woes including Jack Brewster crossing the centre line in his bid and Dave Gibbons recording no time.

Sunday included a stunning array of Personal Bests and storming runs. The out of competition Jack Brewster gave us just a glimpse of
the performance potential of his Firebird, smashing into the sevens with a 7.49 with the Firebird's first ever full pull with this combo.
In the first round Joel Kerr went into the sevens with a 7.91/171.74 taking out Simon Boot's slowing 10.13/134.57. Pete Youhill kept
Simon Gough very honest with an 8.95 to 8.78 with Simon moving on. Marc Manning made a fist of it but his 9.49 with a wounded transmission
was no match for Fast Bracket winner Paul Letchford's 8.06/153.63. Spencer Tidswell disposed of Russ Pursley who was however very pleased
to have got into the eights for the first time in his SBC-powered Dutton, Russ' 9.0052 losing to Spencer's 8.50/154 mph. Pel Norman had a
bye as Dave Wiggins, winner of the No Prep Heads Up at North Weald, was a precautionary no-show with potential valvetrain issues. Pel
however showed that he meant business all the way with a blistering 7.86/173. Kev Perkins had a potentially tough round against George
Chiarella who is still mapping the fuel curve on new motor combo. Kev took no chances running 7.75/177 to move on. Last pass was a single
for Dave Moore with the Viper, Dave now comfortable with the car clicking it off a 6.85/199.

In the second Round Simon Gough with his ever improving new Package destined for Super-class racing was up against Dave Moore and the Viper,
Dave prevailed with a 7.02/199 mph but only after Simon took 0.14 off Dave on the tree, which bodes well for Super-class racing. Spencer
Tidswell got his marching orders from Kev Perkins, 8.54 played a 7.69, but wait until the Procharger gets figured out and bolted on.
Pel Norman had the bye and soloed to another storming 7.84/173.73. Paul Letchford should have faced Joel Kerr but Joel was a no-show, Paul
killed the Tree with a 0.02 RT and shut off for a ten-second ET.

Come the semi-finals all of the remaining competitors were in for a good payday, providing that the event was completed, courtesy of John
Tebenhams company JT Construction and the Top Sportsman prize fund; semi-finalists were guaranteed £500 cash. First up were Kev Perkins
in his trusty Oldsmobile Cutlass and Pel Norman in his 632ci BBC powered Mk 1 Cologne Capri, neither were stellar on the tree but Pel took a 0.03
advantage. Other than that it was Kev all the way, booking his place with a 7.66 to Pel's 7.88. A cracking race nevertheless. In the second
semi that Dodge Viper, which had been the picture of reliability, faced Paul Letchford in his 582ci N/A '68 Camaro which had been solidly in
the seven-second zone. Pretty even on the tree then it was the Dave Moore in the Dodge Viper all the way, 6.76 played a strong naturally-aspirated
7.95 from Paul.

This set up a final with a pair of nitrous cars. Kev drilled the Dave on the start line with a 0.08 playing a 0.24 but the Viper had 0.05 back
by sixty feet and all of the deficit back by 330 feet; from there it just gapped the Oldsmobile more and more. There was also a haze of piston
death smoke from Kev's Oldsmobile Cutlass as the second nitrous kit helped the motor eat itself up. Dave's winning 6.83/198 took the win against
Kev's wounded 7.63/157.

All of this was done despite some real heavy rain over the weekend: it rained significantly every evening and Santa Pod's track crew really deserve
some recognition for forcing this event to be completed and refusing to give in, despite what was thrown at them (and there was plenty of it).
The award of the trophies and the giving out of the cash was all completed as quickly as possible as the inevitable weather front finally took its
toll, but we got it done. Kev Perkins collected £750 cash and the runner-up trophy. Dave Moore collected £1000 cash and the winner's
trophy for his trouble. Semi-finalists Pel Norman and Paul Letchford pocketed £500 cash each, all courtesy of JT Construction and the Top
Sportsman prize fund.

There have been a few Pro Mod teams which have tried to win in Top Sportsman and the Moore Brothers and their Shakespeare Engineering-backed
Dodge Viper are the first team to actually get it done. Their Viper was the picture of reliability and consistency, never shook and never broke,
that is very easy to say but not easy to do. Well done on a richly-deserved win. Kev Perkins put up a very game fight and would have made it a
heck of a lot closer have it not been for the sacrifice to the piston gods.

There has still only ever been one repeat winner in the Head-Up race never a repeat winner in the Fast Bracket, which just shows how even the
competition is and how hard it is to win this. With numerous new combinations being débuted this year and others in the pipeline, it will
be very interesting to see who appears on the entry list for 2018. Over the years the performance of the entries has definitely progressed.

Special thanks go to everyone who has contributed to making Top Sportsman such a solid fixture on the map. This year we would especially like
to thank our sponsors old and new who believe in giving something back to the Sportsman racers, John Tebenham and JT Construction for being a
great supporter of Top Sportsman, Kenny Coleman at EDA, Jeff Bull Race Engines, Gary Halls Damn Yankees ACC, Gary Springford's Drag Race Engineering,
Dave Gibbons' Rough Diamond Engineering, Eurodragster.com for their great coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), the Mopar EuroNats
Committee for hosting us once again, and all of the PMR and Santa Pod crew for running the event so smoothly. Without all of the above there
is no Top Sportsman.

Web site updates.14th August: Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen got a measure of revenge on the weather with a very successful
Drag Challenge to make up for last year's event. Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted a report on the EDRS Pro MC classes
on the Drag Racing Europe Blog and you can take a look by
clicking here.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with more than six hundred pictures from July's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway.
You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

Hockenheim track prep report.12th August: Darren Prentice of Trakbak Racing and Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club have once again been invited by
NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey to join Michael Vogel and his track preparation team at the Hockenheimring in Germany in readiness for this weekend's
Public Race Days and next week's NitrOlympX. Darren writes:

We arrived at the track on Monday of last week to find the track already ground and rubber being applied to the first eighth mile. We were soon joined by the
rest of Michael's team Robert Wolfbeiz, Tobias Bardenstein and Heiko Ruder. We made a plan of action then set off to start the many hours of track grooming which
lay in front of us.

One of the first surprises laying in wait for us was not one but three brand new tractors - each one which they drove around the corner was bigger than the
last - courtesy of Jochen Nerpel who has recently joined the Hockenheim team as the Track / Facilities Manager and who had secured a deal with
Claas Tractors of Hockenheim. These machines, each with as much as 400 bhp, have
really helped us power up and down the track, easily dragging the sleds behind us and driving in complete comfort. We have also been joined by Michael
Behrens and his team from Jade Racing who have brought a counter-rotating machine, which is helping us to apply as much rubber as we can to the track
surface.

For the first week we worked through the night as the famous Hockenheim circuit had a full calendar of track hires, so we just turned the floodlights on and hit the track.

At this weekend's Public Race Days the racers will give us an indication of how the track is coming around, ready for the final push of track prep before the NitrOlympX
begins. Hopefully we will have time to send an update from the weekend, which normally attract some of the best tuning houses from across Europe as
well as racers from around Europe have made the journey early for some pre-event testing.

Event entry update.12th August: Entry is still open for the APIRA MSA / ACU Open Sport Nationals, a round of the UK National
Drag Racing Championships, ACU UK Drag Bike Championships and other series, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 26th-28th
August. Official entry forms can be downloaded from the track's web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee by bacs rather than credit/debit card or cheque as this cuts down on administrative
charges and time. APIRA's account details can be found on the entry forms.

Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 4 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European Finals,
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 7th-10th September. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-free entry closed yesterday (Friday) but entry may still be acceped subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download
the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Sag Southworth.10th August: We were very sorry to hear of the death of UK Wild Bunch racer
and supporter Dave Southworth, universally known as 'Sag'. A testament to Sag's mettle is the fact
that even though terminally ill he continued to race, and in fact set a new Personal Best for speed in
recent weeks.

Having run an altered named Jeepers Creepers Sag and Crew Chief Alan Grimes built and
ran the Daddy Cool dragster, running it into the eights at 145 mph. A longtime supporter
and very popular member of the Wild Bunch with whom he raced, Sag posted an annual trophy for
Personal Achievement.

Our deepest sympathies to Elaine and to all of Sag's family and friends. If you would like to send
a tribute to Sag then please E-Mail
tributes@eurodragster.com.

Mini in the Park demos sought.10th August: The organisers of this weekend's Mini in the Park at Santa Pod
Raceway are seeking sub-9.90 dragsters, altereds or doorslammers to make demonstration passes on Sunday (13th).
Neale Saunders of Santa Pod Raceway says that participation will involve taking part in the demo sessions on Sunday, but
that free access to the track is on offer at Saturday's Run What You Brung if racers wish to make a weekend of it. However
you must run on Sunday and your dragster or doorslammer must be a 9.90 or quicker runner.

Swift snippets.10th August:British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame Honorary Chair Stu Bradbury writes that today would be the seventy eighth birthday of the legendary
Allan "Bootsie"Herridge. "We miss Bootsie dearly", says Stu. "The legend whose image is featured on the Hall of Fame trophies
and after whom the trophy is named. Allan built one of the first dragsters in the UK in 1962 and was inducted into the British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame in its founding year, 2006."

Event entry update.10th August: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European
Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 7th-10th September now including a cat out of the bag in Fuel Funny Car as
US Fuel racer Terry Haddock takes the wheel of the returning Showtime FC. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry
closes tomorrow, Friday 11th August, after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the
official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Early in the year I had a wee chat with Jerry Lackey as he does like the excitement and thrills and spills surrounding Serck
Motorsport Outlaw Anglia. We hoped to get six Outlaws put together to head out to Hockenheim which would have been
no mean feat. We just about managed five but in the end there were three definite candidates: Jedd Guy, Ronnie Mercer
and myself, and we are joined for the weekend by Andy Hadfield in Twister so it will be fun and full of
nonsense - not forgetting all our crews as without them we couldn't do what we do.

It's a first for Ronnie and he will just love the event, running in Pro ET with a real big field and I believe only a thirty two-car
field for eliminations, fingers crossed for Ronnie. Jedd, Andy and I are all running in Super Pro ET and again it's a tight class
with an entry of forty and again going into a thirty two-car field for eliminations. Jedd has been to Hockenheim before but it's
a first for running his car there. Andy and I have been before but we will all be rusty running a Sportsman tree, in fact this year
I've never run one yet, let's hope that unlike my first year at Hockenheim I don't go on the first amber!

We all set off next Wednesday and we all arrive somewhere across the water the next morning with a hope to meet
up somewhere en route to Hockenheim. Hopefully we will all have good journey and get there in plenty of time to get
scrutineered and make the eight o'clock cut off for the drivers' meeting, set up camp and relax and enjoy before being out
for the early morning call on Friday.

The big bonus for all four of us is that we are all in the Night Show which, if you have ever managed to be there, is awesome
and that is a word which really can be used as it should be. Jerry puts so much work into this fabulous evening of entertainment:
whether you are a spectator, a racer, a crew member or a marshal it is just the very best.

I wish everybody who is attending or racing at the event the very best of luck; it is one event where we really do just have fun.
There is live Web TV running all day Saturday and Sunday, including the Night Show, so keep up to speed with Eurodragster.com
and the team for all the information (Thanks Colin - Ed).

If we don't see you at Hockenheim then we will all catch up at Open Sport Nationals, European Finals or the Hot Rod Drags.
Be fast and safe everybody.

Swift snippets.9th August: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Crew, who raced the iconic
Oxford Builder Comp Altered, says that he and the late Dave Burfitt both go
back to the "Screaming Jag" days. "We used to park together in our seven foot wide pits", says Geoff. "We raced in Holland,
twice I think, where he kept his welly in even when on the grass verge. Economic racing for families and socialising was our
stock-in-trade back in the 1980s. A big friendly guy with a heart of gold. RIP Dave."

Our good friend Robin Jackson tells us that a report of the Pro Modified action at
the Mopar EuroNationals is now available on the official MSA British Drag Racing Championship web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has
published the fourth issue of its online magazine HOFtalk which is designed to facilitate communications
with members and supporters of the BDRHoF and which is edited by our own Pit Reporter Simon, who is a member of
BDRHoF Ltd's Board. You can download the PDF by
clicking here or by clicking on the Features,
Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page, or you can read it on-screen
at www.drceurope.co.uk/hoftalk/issue4.

Aidan Heatley Smith asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer and regular
Eurodragster.com contributor Smax Smith. Our pleasure Aidan, have a great day Smax. A big Happy Birthday
also to UK Fuel legend and newlywed Gary Page. Have a great day Gary.

European Top Gas Round 3 report.9th August: Many thanks to Herman Jolink for forwarding us a report of the third round
of the European Top Gas Series which took place
over the quarter mile at Drachten on 28th-30th July:

We had a lot of luck with the weather, only a little rain. We had qualifying at 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00 on Friday and Saturday and the last qualifier on
Sunday. Top Gas qualifying:

Jorg Lymant D on 2622 V-Twin 7.702/214 kmh off the throttle early and there was a strong headwind.

Cord Albers D on 2622 V-Twin 7.751/271. On the second run Albers had problems with his fuel pump.

Jan Malmberg S on 2400 two blower V-Twin 8.140/264. On a previous qualifying run the wheelie bar was too low so the front end
did not lift, after adjusting the wheelie bar height it was better.

Patrick Kras NL on 2622 V-Twin 8.567/237. This was his first time racing after he broke his leg in a road bike accident.

Jorg Braune D on 2000 V-Twin 9.653/214

Sasha Brodbeck CH on V-Rod Destroyer 9.657/215. Brodbeck was Champion in the V-Rod Destroyer class several times. Broke
his gearbox on the last qualifying run.

Championship leader Fredrik Schack did not qualify as he broke a chain and then had gearbox problems. Herman Jolink did not
participate because of some personal problems. Also not participating because of engine damage at Claestres was Dirk Waterschoot
B (con rod through crankcase), Chris van Nimmen B (broken crank case), Marc v d Boer B (broken valves).

Sunday E1: Lymant's engine stopped after the burnout so he was not allowd to restart, Severa (first alternate as Buehler was broken) bye
run 11.817/151. Kras' engine stopped shortly after starting, Braune's engine also stopped shortly after launch, problems with fuel injection.
Albers 9.502/203 def. Schleichert 10.537/207; Albers' launch was not so good and he had problems with the strong wind. Malmberg 8.402/256
bye, Brodbeck had a broken gearbox.

The meeting will give a nod to drag racing traditionalists by featuring the world's fastest race cars competing over the full quarter mile and the bill includes
Larry Dixon, Dom Lagana and Pat Dakin, amongst others.

Our own schedule comprises just two runs this Saturday night, 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. The format for racing is "To be clarified" but, needless to say, we will be
flying the flag and trying to add to the scalps already collected. Exhibition? Not for us.

Scott and I will try and keep you updated via FB, Instagram and any other means available including Eurodragster.com.

Thanks, as ever, to our tour partners: Beech Underwriting Services, Lawrie Gatehouse and the NFAA, US Automotive, Rat Trap Racing, Lucas Oil, Goodyear
Tyres, Motorstate Distributing, Thacker & Friends, the Sherratt family, ARP Fasteners and all the supporters back home for your kind words of encouragement - it
is greatly appreciated! Thanks also to all the supporters at home in the UK, whom we also greatly appreciate!

Swift snippets.7th August: Former Comp Altered and Pro Comp racer Tim Claxton was sorry to hear of the death of
Dave Burfitt. "What a lovely man", says Tim. "I got on very well with Dave, win or lose. We had a few laughs until we got to the line,
then he took his racing seriously. RIP Dave, and my thoughts to his family". Charlie, Jim and Dave Draper add that they
too were sorry to hear of Dave's passing and send condolences to his family.

Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy future to UK Fuel legend Gary Page and his bride Jane Page who
were married on the QT yesterday.

Sweden's Team 817 Funny Bike and Super Street Bike team are preparing for next week's NitrOlympX buoyed by PBs at the NDRG Drag
Challenge at Gardermoen. "I saw off the previous 6.887 with a 6.831 / 286 kmh off the throttle at 100 feet, and Robert Häggblom ran a clean 7.70/305",
says Thomas Pettersson. "We are looking forward to setting more new PBs on the track at the NitrOlympX".

Trakbak Racing and Track Group Europe have confirmed that they will again be providing a free Web TV broadcast from the NitrOlympX. The High
Def, multiple-camera broadcast will be available on the Saturday and Sunday of the event and will of course include the Night Show. The link to the
Web TV is ready and waiting on our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored NitrOlympX coverage index which
also includes a link to the official entry list. You can take a look by
clicking here or by clicking on the John
Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted a photo review of the NDRG Drag Challenge on the Autosport.nl web site. You can check it out by
clicking
here.

We continue to receive appreciative feedback for our triple stack of John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored event coverage of Dragstalgia, Bug Jam and the Mopar EuroNationals, for which many thanks. As we are quite
used to drag racing being gender-blind we didn't give a thought to all four of our photographers at the Mopars being female until it
was pointed out to us. Next week's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim will be the first of six straight race weekends' coverage including a
double-header of the Dico Scandinavian Internationals and APIRA Open Sport Nationals on the second of the six. Our full Event Coverage
schedule including Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts can be checked out by
clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Smax and the maddening TAFC.7th August: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith had a weekend off from the long car last weekend
and concentrated on son Aidan's Top Alcohol Funny Car at Grand Bend:

We were quietly confident that we had addressed the issues of putting burst panels out before half track as we found that our crank trigger to the msd grid wasn't wired correctly.
Aidan came out for his first run and did a perfect long smokey burnout, the car sounded totally on kill. He backed up then staged and brought the rpm to 6500, launched but put
out the burst panel out before sixty feet.

The stripdown revealed that we broke an intake rocker so likely backfired the blower. All the bottom end was perfect so a quick fix and turnaround ready for Q2.
Again Aidan did a perfect burnout and brought the rpm up to 6500 and launched, but car didn't rev much past 6900, went 400 feet and put the burst panel out. By
now was losing my mind.

I decided to run just off the mag and replace kill switch, which I was suspecting, and the points box but rain was forecast for Sunday's eliminations plus the track were
getting pissed that we weren't performing, so Aidan said stuff this for a game of soldiers (My paraphrase - Ed) and loaded up and we partied until five the next
morning.

On Monday I decided to order a new kill switch from MSD and hey! In the catalogue it said no not use two pole switch on Mag 44 and use a starter solenoid to shut the
mag off, so this may have been my problem all along. Damn!

As usual we had a fun weekend but still going through hell with our Funny Car. At time of writing we were scheduled to be back at Grand Bend this weekend with the
Top Fueller which has new blower and command module, and a new kill switch on the Funny Car, so watch this space!

Swift snippets.5th August: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 2 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European Finals,
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 7th-10th September. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking here. Entry closes next Friday,
11th August, after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the
Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with added hugs to Libby Mottershead. Have a lovely day Lady
Lib.

Have you seen this caravan?5th August: UK Supercharged Outlaws racer Jim Usher's caravan was stolen from Wincanton on Thursday
night and Eurodragster.com readers are asked to keep eyes and ears open:

It's a Luna Lexon RS twin axle with a few dents on the back rear panel where a deer ran into it. It also has LED lights running all the way
down the side. Apart from that it has some silicone marks around the wheel arches where I have taken off the LED lights from the bottom
of the van. It's got all our clothes and firesuit ready for the Bulldog Bash next week. Please can you help find it.

The pitfalls of steel.3rd August: UK Modurstang Pro ET racer Tim Stanbury says that he will have to sit out the rest of this season:

After eight seasons pushing and pulling my all-steel 1968 Camaro, both at the track and at home, I managed to strain something in the nether regions last year.
Of course I'd like to say it followed an energetic session of something else, but the reality was merely an old fart pushing his race car too hard.

A winter of rest seemed to cure that so we commenced the season as usual, aiming to have a crack at all seven MSA rounds. But after a worthy beating by friend and fellow racer Mark Bailey
at the SPRC Summernationals I set about loading the car as usual for our long ride home. It started to rain hard, and there I was pushing and shoving the Camaro trying to get it lined up for the
trailer, and something went twang. I ignored this message and carried on as usual at home, selling my motor accessories - not an especially vigorous pursuit - and running our farm
in my spare time. Four straight days in a twenty five-year-old tractor and something just didn't feel right. So off to the doctor.

I've given myself a hernia, bringing my racing season to an end. Hopefully I'll be back as usual next year.

I want to thank my sponsors Lucas Oil Products, for all their support and understanding. It has been an honour to represent them for the third year. I'll miss all my friends at
the track. Have fun, go fast, and stay safe. All you boys and girls with lightweight racing cars just don't know how lucky you are. But I'm sticking with steel thank you.

Street Car Shootout pictures.3rd August: Many thanks to Bob Roberts for sending us shots of the Street Car Shootout at the weekend's Silverstone
Classic.

We had some neat developments on the car showing good promise for our first three-second, 300 mph 1000 foot pass. We were
scheduled to run at 4:00 and 8:00 but the heavens opened at 4:00 and the rain battered us for three hours. Damn! However the
track crew persevered and dried the track but no time for street cars and put the three jets on for the Night Show first!
Then came the Funny Cars of Jeff Diehl and Dale Creasy. Dale hooked up and went 900 feet but Jeff broke an oil line and the
clean-up took a long time. Then Terry Haddock ran his Funny Car but spun the tyres. I watched as the mist crept up my windshield
and knew it was not a good sign.

We were paired with good friend Todd Paton and although we did good burnouts and managed to launch we got out about 400 feet out
and both spun our tyres, so we lifted at same time. The data showed we were trying to turn the tyre from the hit! We then partied
until 5:00 am.

Up on Sunday morning, Aidan had the clutch done before I got out of bed and we got ready to run the 2:00 pm session again against
Todd. We were hoping for good numbers. Aidan belted me in then we did our burnouts and staged. We rocketed off to 280 mph but dropped
a cylinder at the hit and mixed them up down track so only produced a 5.20. The throttle also hung for a second again! What we found
was the blower which we restripped after backfiring it when we beat Tony Schumacher was eating the new strips so only made 39 lbs boost
at the hit. The case is ballooned so Gary has got us another blower which makes 53 lbs boost but we have to wait to Grand Bend this
weekend to find out the results.

Meanwhile we had brought Aidan's alky Funny Car along, after addressing a few woes from last season we were excited to get him running
fives. The car sounded great. We towed Aidan for the first qualifier, planning an eighth-mile pass unless was it pulling hard.

Aidan did a monster burnout and the car sounded great. Pre-staged brought the rpms up, launched but didn't seem to rev up much and
laboured then put the burst panel out at 400 feet. Aidan kept it rolling and qualified.
We changed the coil and the mag was fresh from MSD so we played with the wiring on the grid etc. The team did amazing work stripping
the whole car, we had hydraulicked and bent number two rod pretty bad but the crank was fine.

We went for the first round on Sunday, again sounded great with a monster burnout. Pre-staged at 6500 rpm and Aidan was away first
but again the same thing, the car didn't really rev up and put the burst panel out at 400 feet. Bummer, this is getting stupid.
Unfortunately didn't get any data again to see what was really going on so packed up and headed home.

Swift snippets.2nd August: Regular readers of our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored Event Coverage will know that it has some
very faithful fans and we are very pleased to say Happy Birthday to one of those today. James Humphreys, a
particular fan of our Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts
as well as a member of SPRC's timing crew, is seventeen years old today and Tog, Kirstie, Simon and Julian would like
to wish James the very happiest of birthdays.

Ted Peddle.1st August: We were sorry to hear from Mike Lintern that Ted Peddle, one of the founding
directors of National Dragways, the original operators of Santa Pod Raceway, has passed away at the age of
ninety:

It was in 1965 that John Bennett, Chairman of the British Hot Rod Association, publisher of the club's Drag
Racing & Hot Rod magazine and co-proprietor with Ted of the South London bodyshop Spa Engineering,
"discovered" the ex-USAAF airfield of Podington.

At the time, the airfield had recently been purchased by local farmer Ernie Braddick and used on occasions for
National Sprint Association meetings, though Ernie had plans to break-up the runways and taxiways for the
value of the hardcore. But Ernie joined the other National Dragways directors – who also included Bob and
Roy Phelps of Fibre Glass Repairs – in a vision of the site becoming the BHRA's permanent drag strip, a project
which became reality with the opening of the Raceway in 1966.

Our deepest sympathies to Ted's family and friends.

Of Vipers and lamb shanks.1st August: Lucy Moore writes that Roger Moore was dragged kicking and screaming from the driving seat of the
Moore brothers' Pro Modified Viper to allow tuner Dave Moore and crew Gary Butters to have a go at the Mopar EuroNationals:

Roger never did like sharing his toys as a child. It was an ambitious venture to attempt to get two rookie drivers down the track in one weekend,
but with the experience of the team and our never-say-die attitude we were optimistic.

"Weekend" is a loose term considering Roger, Lucy and Dave arrived at the track on Wednesday to set up for the event! The first obstacle was when
Dave arrived having been stung on the head by a wasp the day before. His face was so disfigured by an allergic reaction that we were unsure he would
be able to race at all. Fortunately, copious use of a bag of frozen peas and a large amount of antihistamine subsided the swelling by the following day.

Dave pulled rank over his ex-apprentice to take the first drive on Friday. His last pass was fourteen years ago in their infamous Triumph Herald; you
wouldn't have thought so as he ran a solid eight-second run. Gary was next, looking a bit apprehensive but determined he ran a 7.53, the competitive
edge creeping in. Dave jumped back in on an absolutely storming run to make a 6.83/198.08, fantastic!

As the passes continued and experience grew we all began to enjoy seeing them reach new targets with Dave attaining his goal of 200 mph, the crew
got used to the adjustments with Roger being on the start line and looking like a lamb shank without roast potatoes. Although the weekend was a bit
of fun away from Pro Mod for Dave and Roger, and a reward for Gary after twenty years of excellent crewing, it was fantastic to see Dave win the JT
Construction UK Top Sportsman Heads Up Race.

It was great to have longtime crewman Martin Tilley return on Saturday as a spectator and to lend a hand after illness, he has been a huge asset to
the team over the years. As well as a huge thanks to him there also are thanks in order for all our dedicated crew members, but particularly those
this weekend: Roger 'Chief Whip Cracker', Dave 'Lamb Shank', Jane 'Prosecco', Kane 'Bahlsen Leibniz', Gary 'Double Cheeseburger with Bacon' and
Lucy 'The Boss'.

Swift snippets.1st August: UK street-legal racer Andy Frost is holding a Five Second Club night in Wolverhampton on
Saturday 30th September to benefit his return to Bahrain to race Red Victor 3. A custom car and bike show, live bands,
food and a bar will be on offer and festivites commence at 15:00. Tickets are £25, under-12s free. You can find out more
on the official flyer; click on the picture at right.

Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-Bug Jam points standings
in the 2017 UK National Drag Racing and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Many thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from Bug Jam and the Mopar EuroNationals,
which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Swift snippets.30th July: Good luck and stay safe to Maja Udtian of the Islanders Drag Racing Team who plans to complete
her Top Fuel Dragster licence at Gardermoen today. Terje Håkensbakken tells us that Maja pulled a 0.97 sixty foot time
on her first pass on Friday and then ran a half pass yesterday.

Good luck and say safe also to Robin Lantz who is licencing in Stefan Gunarsson's injected-nitro Top Methanol Dragster
at Tierp Arena. You can stay in touch with Maja's and Robin's progress courtesy of the webcasts above.

Congratulations to Sverre Dahl who becamse Europe's latest five-second Top Fuel Bike racer with a 5.98 and then
5.93 in qualifying at Gardermoen. First of many we're sure.

Best wishes also to Adam Flamholc who escaped uninjured from a
top end crash
in eliminations at the NMCA-NMRA Super Bowl at Route 66 Raceway. The Corvette is badly damaged but Adam is not and we look
forward to seeing him back at the track doing the usual proud job of representing Europe.

My goal this season is to run a 6.8 or lower. At the Main Event the bike was showing the potential to so it as I ran PB after PB, my best sixty foot, eighth,
thousand foot and quarter. So at the next meeting in Germany I'm hoping to run a new PB but there's no way I could do this without my team, my crew
and our sponsor MPM Oil.

Mark Smith (Pro Stock Bike): Well, where do I start? We changed a lot on the bike over the winter break so we came up to Santa Pod on
the Wednesday before the Main Event and met the Warpspeed team to get in some testing and data on the Thursday. We are running a Firestorm
and had no base settings. Then came race day so got everything done on the bike, made my first pass and everything seemed to be OK. On the
second run I did a burnout and the bike didn't sound right so I killed the motor as I didn't want to break it. I didn't make that run as
I lost all of my valve clearance. Dale Leeks sorted that out for me but I didn't get any more runs in that day. Next day first run, did my
burnout, got to the line, light went green and away I went. Half way down the track and the motor let go and broke so that was the end for me.

I had some spare time on my hands so changed the motor over ready for Germany and sent the broken motor back with Stuart Crane to be fixed
and put back together. Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly at the next meeting in Germany.

I would like to thank all my team, crew and our sponsor MPM Oil and Draper Tools. Without you guys I wouldn't be going to Germany.

Dale Leeks (Funny Bike): We went up to Santa Pod on the Wednesday night to do some testing on Thursday, as we had made a few changes over the winter.
The test runs went well and we got some data. I wasn't happy with my first pass on the Saturday so we changed some data and set-up to see if it would help. On the next
run the bike was going well but at the top end the engine didn't sound right. I got back to the pit area to see what the problem was and after looking over the motor I
discovered it had suffered damage at the top end so that was me out.

The front half is getting much stronger every pass and showing that the big numbers are there if I put in the missing pieces of the puzzle. In Germany we could get that
long-awaited six-second pass. To throw a spanner in the works if racing the nitro motorcycle wasn't enough I fractured my leg in a sky-diving incident six weeks before
the NitrOlympX. I have had to seek out specialist services to get the bone repair accelerated with laser treatment in the hope that I can get on the bike and do the
business pain-free in Germany.

I would like to say a big thank to MPM Oil for their continued support of the team through our European Championship tour.

We couldn't thank our sponsor MPM Oil enough for all their support over the years. They have taken us
forward to Germany and supply us with the best products on the market today including top end oils, and their support helps us to match products most suited to
our motors. Richard Stevens at MPM also supplies us with sealants, cleaning products and merchandise and our race awning. A lot of companies out there would
find it hard to beat their products and knowledge. Check out their web site at www.mpmoil.nl.

The EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship is at its halfway point for 2017 and Norway's Gardermoen Raceway is the third track and third country in the
Series. Samu Kemppainen, Mogens Lund and home favourites Thomas Lysebraaten Olsen and Jan Sturla Hegre are the leaders in their respective categories after two races,
but as at Tierp and Alastaro they will face tough competition. You can read more courtesy of our good buddy Remco Scheelings on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

We have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com team today. Please join Kirstie, Tog and Julian in wishing
Pit Reporter, Blog Editor, Links Editor and Photographer Simon a very Happy Birthday. Have a great day buddy.

DFDS ferry discount continues.28th July: With the NitrOlympX fast approaching photo-journalist Andy Willsheer has been in touch
to remind racers that discounts are available on ferry sailings with DFDS.

There is no rate increase in 2017, however in line with DFDS Group policy on all routes a charge has been introduced for each additional driver or passengers.
The concessionary rates still offer a considerable discount when compared to DFDS' standard freight tariff and, until further notice, each
driver and passenger will be able to take advantage of a free main course offer in the Freight Drivers Road Kings restaurant on board their vessels.

For more information about DFDS check out their web site at www.dfdsseaways.co.uk but
to benefit from the Santa Pod Raceway discount please be sure to use the form, not the web site, to make bookings.

A Kalitta Collective at BDRHoF Gala.28th July: The British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Connie kalitta, Doug Kalitta and Jim Oberhofer or Kalitta Motorsports will be
attending its 2017 Gala Awards Dinner to be held at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey on 18th November, and that
they will be offering a special charity auction prize for bids to raise funds for the BDRHOF Benevolent Fund.

The prize on offer is a package of two event tickets and Kalitta Motorsport VIP Hospitality tickets to the NHRA Gatornationals
at Gainesville Raceway, Florida from 15th-18th March 2018. In conjunction with BDRHoF sponsors DialAFlight, the prize includes
two return flights from UK to Orlando and seven-day car hire. Up to £500 towards hotel cost booked through DialAFlight
is also offered. The prize can only be used at the 2018 NHRA Gatornationals.

In order to bid for this fantastic prize valued at over £2,000, you will need to hold a ticket for the 2017 BDRHoF Gala Awards
Dinner. Bidding will take place in sealed envelopes to be circulated on the day of the dinner and collected during the event.
Bidding is open to all attendees except the Board of Directors and Selection Committee of the BDRHoF. The highest bidder will
win, and in the event of a tie, the winner will be selected by drawn lot.

BDRHoF Sponsor Partner and international liaison officer Geoff Stilwell said "This is a fantastic prize and we are hugely
grateful to Kalitta Motorsports and DialAFlight for their generosity in enabling us to create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We are lining up other amazing prizes for the Gala Dinner so every guest will have several chances to bid."

Jim Oberhofer, Vice President of Operations for Kalitta Motorsports, said "We are thrilled to be attending the BDRHoF Gala
awards dinner and the chance to provide hospitality in return for two lucky winners of the charity auction was too good to
miss. Congratulations to the BDRHoF for making all this possible."

Connie Kalitta: It takes a special kind of man to run one of the most successful Funny Car and Top Fuel Dragster
teams on the American drag racing scene while also operating one of the world's largest and award-winning cargo airlines.
But 79-year-old Connie Kalitta is such a man. His drag racing career spans seven decades during which he has guided nephew
Doug Kalitta and his late son, Scott Kalitta, to victories and Championships. In fact, since its launch in 1959, he or his
teams have won six World Championships and over one hundred national event titles. Somehow he also found time to prime
Shirley Muldowney's drag racing career, as featured in the film Heart Like A Wheel.

During the 1960s Connie moved steadily up the ranks, first as a Top Gas Dragster driver and then in Top Fuel. It was in
Top Gas that Kalitta's Bounty Hunter nickname was coined. He painted a list of drivers he vowed to defeat with a
large Wanted at the top and as he beat each one on the list he crossed off the name like a gunslinger, earning the
name Bounty Hunter'. He later moved into Funny Cars when match racing Funnies became lucrative.

Connie was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 and is the first recipient of the NHRA's Lifetime Achievement
Award. He continues to compete at the top level of drag racing on a massive scale, currently fielding a five-car team. His
nephew Doug Kalitta gave up a solid driving career in open-wheel sprint cars and midgets to take over a Top Fuel driver's
seat. Other Top Fuel dragster team members are Troy Coughlin Jr and Shawn Langdon. JR Todd and Alexis DeJoria drive the
team's Funny Cars.

Doug Kalitta is the nephew of Kalitta Motorsports' owner and multiple drag racing Champion Connie
Kalitta. Doug formerly raced in USAC events, becoming 1991 USAC Rookie of the Year in the midget series, and winning the
1994 Championship in the Sprint Car category. In a successful USAC career he won twenty one USAC events: fourteen in midget
races and seven in sprint competitions. In 1998 he switched to drag racing, successfully driving a Top Fuel Dragster for
Kalitta Motorsports. He is fifth on the all-time Top Fuel wins list, netting forty two career wins with eighty eighth career
final rounds and winning the NHRA Finals at Pomona in 2016. His quickest Elapsed Time for 1000 feet is 3.686 seconds and his
fastest Terminal Speed is 331.85 mph. He also finds time to operate airline Kalitta Charters.

Jim Oberhofer is the Crew Chief for the Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster driven by Doug Kalitta, and Vice President
of Operations for Kalitta Motorsports, a business with which he first became involved in 1983. Jim's father Dave campaigned
a Junior Fueller as well as a Top Fuel Dragster in the 1960s and 1970s so drag racing is in Jim's blood, and in 1988 he joined
Kalitta Motorsports full-time, working with Dick LaHaie after 1993 and later Ed 'The Ace; McCulloch. He met his wife Tammy there
but sadly she succumbed to cancer in 2013. Jim's daughter Ashley and his brother Jon also work for the business and his book
Top Fuel For Life has been much acclaimed. He is a sought-after speaker and media commentator talking about building a successful
drag racing team and dealing with family tragedy. Alongside his responsibilities with one of the most successful teams in drag
racing, he also finds time to take part in competitive ballroom dancing.

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk
or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes
a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the
occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT
as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published
on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on
Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Web site updates.28th July: Chris Eyre has updated the European Nostalgia Funny Car web site with a write up from the
amazing Dragstalgia including videos and photos by Neil Dilkes and Andrew Green. "A massive Thank You to the Santa Pod crew for getting
the track dry to enable all sessions of the Cannonball to run", says Chris. "Thank You also to SPR timing team for the numbers and thank you
as always to the Eurodragster.com team for the excellent coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed)". You can check it out at
euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com.

Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon site with pictures from the FIA Main Event and Dragstalgia.
You can take a look at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.

Following the cancellation of racing at Bug Jam 31, Santa Pod Raceway and SPRC are offering a £30 credit to all Sportsman racers who were due to compete at
the event. The credit can be used at any permitted race event up to and including Bug Jam 32 next year.

SPRC will also be carrying over last weekend's prize fund to Bug Jam 32, so next year's Bug Jam will automatically be a double prize fund event for all of the Sportsman
classes. The reason for holding the prize fund to next year is that this year's UK National Finals already has a double prize fund after the SPRC Summernationals was not
completed.

If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933
313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

UK Pro ET racer Brian Huxley has been in touch to recommend the Engine Super Coolant manufactured
by Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil Products.
"We are blown away by how good it is", says Brian. We used it in the V8 Ford motor of our Dark Horse
Mustang and we found that it works excelllently. We can recommend it to anyone with overheating problems - one
bottle was enough to do the job in our car."

Mopars Perfection extended.26th July: We are very pleased to announce that Cath and Tig Napier of the UK's Bad Habit
Racing Pro ET team, who sponsor the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award, have extended
coverage of the Perfect Light Award at this weekend's Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Ordinarily the
Award is available in National Championship classes but this weekend the Eurodragster.com / Bad
Habit Racing Perfect Light Award will be available in JT Construction Top Sportsman, the Gasser Circus
and Nostalgia Super Stock as well as in MSA Pro Modified.

This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £100
after it could not be won at Bug Jam. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer in MSA Pro Modified,
JT Construction Top Sportsman, the Gasser Circus or Nostalgia Super Stock to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds.
The Perfect Light Award is available during qualifying and eliminations, not RWYB, but will only be awarded
for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £125 for
the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Open Sport
Nationals.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are
carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office from Friday morning or from
the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only).

Weekend webcasts.26th July: Race fans are spoilt for choice for webcasts this weekend.

First up is the NDRG Drag Challenge from Gardermoen which starts tomorrow (Thursday) and whose webcast commences
on YouTube on Friday. You will be able to tune in by
clicking here.

Starting at lunchtime on Friday is Eurodragster.com's Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport
webcast from the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Broadcast will commence just before
the track opens, which is scheduled for 12:00 midday, and will continue so long as the track is
open each day. You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
Mopar EuroNationals Event Index, which includes links to the official entry lists and webcast, by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side
of any Eurodragster.com page. Our buddies at Nitro FM will also be streaming at
www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm, and of course broadcasting at
the track on 96.2 FM, from 07:00 Friday morning.

The RaceStar Nats takes place at Tierp Arena on Saturday and Sunday and the guys at Nitroz.se
will be providing a webcast which you will be able to watch at
www.nitrozplay.se.

Don't forget that you can find a comprehensive list of drag racing webcasts from around the planet on
the excellent 1320Online web site at www.1320online.com.

Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 1 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European Finals,
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 7th-10th September. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking here. Entry closes on 11th August
after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the
Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Feature: Bowling Green Blog.24th July: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is Rob Loaring's account of the
Havoc Fuel Altered team's recent successful outing at the National Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green,
Kentucky.

Rob's highly-entertaining and informative Blog commences with pre-event work in the workshop shared with the
Rat Trap team and continues to the end of the race.

You can check out Rob Loaring's Bowling Green Blog by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Bug Jam rained out.24th July: No qualifying or eliminations took place at the weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway after
rain washed out competition sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. RWYB took place on Friday and for a while on Saturday before
the weather took over.

Obviously neither the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award nor the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting
Bloodwise were won and so have been increased to £100 for this
weekend's Mopar EuroNationals and to £75 for August's Open Sport Nationals respectively.

In the absence of a single competitive pass the £100 prize money for Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET was added to the money
collected at Friday's coffee and cake morning in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Fund, and the box of Quality Street which was also
up for grabs was passed to Alan Medley to give to wife Gill who was unwell at the weekend. The 50 Shades of Racing prize for
Reaction Time was also put into the Macmillan pot; there will be more about this shortly.

Saturday's RWYB was marred by the top end crash of Sam and Olly Young's Black Current Beetle, however Sam was thankfully
unhurt and set some sort of record for exiting a car.

We were able to post three galleries; you can check out our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored Event Coverage by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

Swift snippets.24th July: John Goodman, to whom thanks for the picture also, writes that the new PBR Top Fuel Bike
designed and built by Phil Baimbridge took to the track for the first time at Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend. Ridden by former Top Fuel Harley rider
Al Smith the unique three-cylinder machine performed a couple of noisy burnouts to allow him to get used to the feel of the Baimbridge designed and built machine.
An attempt at an eighth had to be abandoned after an oil feed came loose after the burnout. The team are very happy with the results of testing and John can confirm
that it has a unique sound and is very loud.

Staying on two wheels, Kerryanne van den Berg has been in touch with an urgent request for a five-speed auto gear and shift drum for Bobby Frazier's Comp / Pro Stock
Bike. If you can help then please contact Kerryanne on 07703 343534.

We have no less than three birthdays today. First up is a very Happy Birthday to Heaven & Hell and
Earsplittenloudenboomer team member, Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member and Contributing Photographer Grace Roaf. Have a
lovely day Grace. By one of those nice coincidences which you get all too seldom it is also the birthday of Grace's mum Mary Roaf. Happy
Birthday and hope you have a lovely day too Mary. Finally another big Happy Birthday to our good friend Lotta Andersson. Have a lovely
day Lotta.

Pit Posse Motorsports are an on-line retailer and manufacturer of motorsport and motorcycle accessories, tools and trailer / garage / shop
accessories and more, upporting some of the top racers and race teams in the game including Trey Canard, Justin Barcia, Haiden "Danger Boy"
Deegan, Traders MX Racing, and now Bennett Racing.

Barrett Smith, Regional Sales and Marketing Director, said "We're delighted to have our name associated with one of the best and well-known
drag racing teams in Europe. They have two phenomenal cars which are very exciting to watch."

Bennett Racing are grateful to all at Pit Posse and we're really looking forward to the future working with them!

The ranks of cars waiting to do battle were boosted by four Gassers which had made the long trip from Sweden and the ever present and
popular Laurent Levi hauling in from the South of France. Qualifying looked like it could be a frantic affair and upsetting as ten
Gassers would miss out on Sunday!

Mechanical gremlins were set to reduce the field with Gas Guzzler and Honky Tonkin' not making it down the fire up road. Old Harper
made it down but sadly did not make it through the burnout.

The stars of qualifying were definitely the Swedish drivers as they brought a whole new meaning to the term "Rolling burnout". More
often than not they burnt out until mid-track but Stefan Flodell in his Chevy Nova and Kjell Anderson aka Lufson in his 1956 Crown
Victoria on occasion hit the 1000-foot mark. The stands, starting crew and fellow racers loved it.

Unfortunately once qualifying was done only two of the Swedish cars were in the show with Bengt Eriksson's 57 Chevy Rattler and
Lufson in his Dog Catcher 56 Ford. Missing out on the UK side were a few regulars more used to racing on Sunday, with Bad n Blown,
Gas Junkie and Sean Milson in his Ain't Misbehavin Morris missing out on Sunday. He however had the consolation of being one of
the five quickest UK cars and he would along with Honky Tonkin' 2, Psychedelic Relic, Wragged Wedge and The Mighty Mouse be
representing the UK in the Gasser Wars! This was a heads up race against the five European Gassers.

With rain affecting chunks of Saturday, Santa Pod took the decision to extend racing until 9:00 pm. At around 7:20 the ten Gasser
Wars cars were in the fire up road paired up and ready for battle. First up was the pairing of Katie Booth and Stefan Flodell who
did another huge rolling burnout. As the lights dropped both cars left greens on the tree but by three quarter track Katie was
ahead a lead she held over the line the UK going up 1-0. The second pair were already burning out with Lee Pike in Honky Tonkin'
2 deciding he needed to get in on the rolling burnout show, and a very fine half-track burnout followed. In the other lane Leif
Ostberg in his Sharp Teeth Barracuda had warmed his slicks. When the two cars left, Honky Tonkin' was on one with the UK going up
2–0.

Next up was the Dog Catcher, a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria, with the crazy Kjell (Lufson) Anderson behind the wheel. He knew he had
to register a win for the Europeans or it was all over. He did his by now customary rolling burnout and Tim Holmes in his Wragged
Wedge Dodge patiently waited until the Ford was backing up before commencing his burnout. The cars ran hard but the honour of the
Swedes was upheld with Lufson taking the win it was now 2–1. Sean Milsom and Laurent Levi were next up with the both burning out
at the same time. Sean's reaction to the tree was somewhat slow, he later confirming he intentionally did this as he did not want
to hand the win out on the start line with a cherry. Sean was now chasing down the ever-fast Laurent, at the lights he had just
edged ahead, this meant that the UK Gasser Circus had just secured an unassailable lead in the Gasser Wars 3–1.

As eyes turned to the final pair something was missing, the '57 Chevy of Bengt Eriksson, as Merv Barnett was already warming his
slicks but the nearside lane remained empty. Unfortunately Bengt had issues in the fire up road when his 57 Chevy refused to start.
This was later traced to a faulty relay. This left Merv on a solo pass which concluded the Gasser Wars in the favour of the UK
with a 4-1 win. Just as well it wasn't penalties!

Back in the pits the two sides celebrated with a bottle of bubbly putting in a brief appearance, and as the bubbles vanished the
Gasser Circus barbecue was underway. The racers and crews gathered around and in just over ninety minutes we had fed over one hundred
people. The socialising and bench racing went on well into the next day.

Sunday was race day and within the Gasser Circus pits preparations were underway for a full day's racing. Two of our Swedish visitors
who had not qualified would still get to keep on running, tagging on at the end of each round of eliminations.
This was to prove costly for Bengt and his 57 Chevy Rattler and a lot of work for the start line crew, as the car was just about to
emulate its name. As Bengt prepared to race Hoch in the B & G Falcon his launch was followed by a metallic-based bang and exiting
under the car was a contorted, twisted and split propshaft and various parts of the diff! Afterwards Bengt was quite philosophical
about it and still had a smile on his face, especially as he rode back up the fire up road with the propshaft gaffa-taped across
his pushbike with the gear drive and pinion shaft occupying the shopping basket on the front!

Lufson in his Dog Catcher Crown Victoria then suffered an issue with its transmission as he lost out to Katie Booth in The Mighty
Mouse Pop. Laurent took on Goldrush driven by Kev Strevett and lost, Kev would then face the winner of the clash between Mick Allen
in Horrid Henry or Tim Holmes in Wragged Wedge. Kev would race and win against Tim advancing his golden car to the semi-finals.
Mighty Mouse took on B&G racing with B&G coming out on top, it stayed that way when they raced Goldrush. This time Ty Strevett
was driving and he laid down a huge burnout. This filled the car with tyre smoke and as Dad Kev tried to fan it out of the car by
means of the driver's door, he was directed to move away. He complied, but the car was till packed full of smoke and as Ty edged
towards the line he could not see the Christmas Tree. Somehow he staged and as he flew down the strip you could not really see
him because the car was in a white out inside! B&G Racing had no such problems, and took the win.

On the other side of the ladder it was the battle of the Willys brand with John Gumble's Willys pickup, this weekend piloted by
Tom Margessen, and the 33 Willys of Martyn Hallam. Tom was getting a good handle on the car and soon put Martyn on the trailer.
Harvey Turner was driving father Ray's Green Onions 55 Chevy and he was up against Lee Pike and Jerry Denning in their Honky
Tonkin' 2 Nova. Harvey is consistent and it showed when the lights at the finish line lit up as they did over his lane.
Next up were the Gibson brothers, in a re-run of the final from Nostalgia Nationals, but this time in Round 1 of eliminations.
The brothers always run hard against each other, and when they got to the top end John had the win, but did he?
First round elimination threw up a glitch with the Santa Pod system, with some cars were receiving, not only a win light but
the words 'winner' on their timing slip, which in a few cases was not correct. John had in fact broken out so actually lost
to Brian. I hoped I may have been one of these as in my first round race in Nogbad the Bad, I had dialled in 11.66 and ran
11.66 but lost. The slip was correct and closer review showed that Merv Barnett in the other lane was the winner, treeing me
off the line!

Stefan tagged on at the back of eliminations but was nursing his engine. This curtailed his next rolling burnout to half
track! When he got back to the pits he was surprised when he was the recipient of a pair of upholstered racing seats donated
by another sponsor of the Gasser Circus, Matt the Stitch who chose Stefan to receive them due to his awesome rolling burnouts.

Back on this side of the ladder, Tom in Rat Poison saw off Brian in Identity Crisis and Merv in his light blue Pop brought
an end to Harvey's afternoon in Green Onions. The second semi-final had Merv taking on Tom in the 38 Willys pickup, however
Tom's luck was about to run out, with Merv putting in yet another supremely fast and consistent mid ten-second run.

With the 5:00 pm curfew fast approaching, the final pair burnt out and we realised this was not only a Bristol final but
also a battle of the Grandads! Merv Barnett in his gorgeous period Pop, and John (Hoch) Grant in the B&G Racing Falcon.
Both cars left hard on clean passes, they were side by side all the way, the win light coming on in Merv's lane. A quick
look at the times confirmed that Hoch had run faster than his dial in. Despite this the team deserve a big pat on the back,
as the engine having spun bearings at the previous meet was still in pieces on Wednesday night.

A delighted Merv picked up his Winners Trophy and the tools supplied by one of our sponsors Speedking. Laurent Levi picked
up the Number 1 Qualifier Voucher and the Gasser Circus proudly collected the Gasser Wars trophy on the start line.

It was a weekend of winners, as we got to race with some fantastic like-minded visitors from Sweden and France and make
a whole new bunch of friends along the way. Gasser Wars 2018 anyone?

The Gasser Circus wish to thank the Santa Pod crew who kept all the racers safe, the backroom team and commentators for
all their hard work. We also want to say thank you to all the drivers who visited from Sweden and France and our sponsors
the National Street Rod Association, Speedking and Matt the Stitch.

Nearly set for the salt.22nd July: Further to his news item of 22nd June,
Land Speed racer and sponsor of various drag racing parties Geoff Stilwell of Beech
Underwriting has been in touch with an update on his racing trip to Bonneville Speed Week:

Following my quick trip to the Rat Trap race shop a few weeks ago to get the seat cell poured, Brian Hope has really been burning the midnight oil to get
7551 Landspeed car ready plus fitting in races with the Rat Trap Fuel Altered in Canada and elsewhere. The newly freshened motor is ready with its
new dry dump system, electronic fuel injection and of course the Procharger. The new on-board computer system has to have a new wiring loom which will
take time to wire up and we need to make sure that everything on the car is compliant with the SCTA construction rules so we don't have any surprises on
any record run.

The salt at Bonneville has really improved over last year and this year we will have four courses on which to run compared to three last year. Joining us on our
quest this year will be Nigel and Jordan Payne (junior drag racer) plus Eurodragster.com reporter Simon plus a number of our US friends
including Bob and Sharon Muravez, Carl Olson, Steve Gibbs, Ed McCulloch, Al Teague and Marvin Graham to name a few.

Make no mistake, this project takes up a lot of time so many people give their time and input to make this happen. I thank my family for letting me
do this. Ron and Brian Hope and the Hope family for everything they have done to make this happen. Plus I need to thank 'Genius' Ed Iskenderian the
Camfather for coming onboard and helping put together a very special cam just for this motor, Technocraft Cabinets for kitting out our trailer, Rat
Trap Racing LSR and not forgetting Bob and Sharon Muravez whose help, encouragement, advice and support has been endless.

The whole project is being filmed for TV and should be going to air later this year so, many thanks go to Ray Iddings, known for filming the IHRA NitroJam
seriesm for taking on this project . Clips will be uploaded as soon as we can.

If anyone wants to follow our project then please visit www.scta-bin.org. Bonneville Speed week
starts on 12th August and there will be a live feed. We will be reporting on our adventures while we are there. If anyone else is making the trip come to find
us and say hello.

Web site updates.22nd July: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has updated Drag Racing Europe Blog with a review of
Janne Koskinen's first outing in EDRS Pro MC Pro Stock Bike at the FHRA Nitro Nationals, a début which had both good and
bad aspects. Sensationalists who compete to post bad news on Facebook feigning concern for the victim and / or who get on our
case for not webcasting the aftermath of accidents might like to read and digest the views of one such victim, i.e. Janne, on the
subject. You can take a look by clicking
here.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good buddy, His Worshipful Protuberance The
Very Reverend Sir Neville Mottershead ODE. Have a great day Nev.

No Prep, no problem.21st July: Paul Marston has also been in touch on behalf of the organisers of the Gearhead Garage
No Prep Nationals at North Weald to express sincere thanks to everyone who participated and spectated:

The first No Prep Nationals to be held in this country was blessed with great weather and some awesome competitors, and was a success by any standards.
The format was very simple: £125 to enter, two test hits, eighth mile, no times and no speeds, numbers out of the hat to determine the pairings.
Heads up, first past the post, there was no way of telling who was going to win.

The final paired Dave Wiggins in his Matt Black Chevy II against head honcho of Taz Racing Chris Skinner in his diminutive SBC-powered Fiat 126. Dave took
it by a nose - it was very, very close and needed the finish line video camera to separate them.

A special Thank You goes out to Jeff and Belinda Bull of Jeff Bull Race Engines who threw in another £250 cash on top of the
posted prize money of £1000 cash for the winner and £100 for the runner-up.

From what we can tell, everyone was happy. It was great fun and there was a lot of close and entertaining racing. You can see the
short film shot and edited by Aaron Springford on YouTube by clicking
here.

Thank Yous go out to Tony Huck and his crew at Maitland Racing for hosting us, the velvety commentary tone of the legendary John Price, all the No
Prep competitors for making it such a great event, Mick Pusey at Gearhead Garage for the one-off event T-Shirts, Jeff and Belinda Bull of Jeff Bull
Racing Engines for the extra cash, all the PMR crew who ran the event so smoothly, and last but by no means least Aaron Springford for the filming
and Grace and Tog from Eurodragster.com for support and coverage (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed).

We hope to be at North Weald next year but would also consider other venues. So if anyone fancies some of the most exciting racing you will ever
witness, contact us: all we need is about a quarter mile of anything flat! We will take it from there and the crowds will love it. Contact Paul on
pmdragracing@gmail.com or call 07831 650230.

Allard Awards still open.21st July: Entries for the 2017 Sydney Allard Media Awards for Written and Photographic Journalism will be closing on 31st August.

If you are a writer, photographer or producer of videos posted on YouTube, amateur or professional, and have not yet entered then you are urged to do so before it
is too late as the deadline cannot be extended. Entries must reflect coverage of British drag racing and associated activities during the twelve months ending 31st July.

The winning entrant in each category, together with a companion, will be invited to attend the Hall of Fame Gala on 18th November where they will receive a crystal
trophy in recognition of their achievement.

Official entry forms can be downloaded from the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee by bacs rather than credit/debit card or cheque as this cuts down on administrative charges and time. APIRA's account
details can be found on the entry forms.

Mopar EuroNats racer update.20th July: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for next week's Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway.

Friday 28th July
09:00 Gates open for the weekend
11:00 Signing On office opens
12:00 Track opens for Run What You Brung (DVLC licences only)
14:00 Scrutineering commences, no specific order (details)
20:00 Signing On office closes

The official MSA Pro Modified entry list has been updated and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side
of any Eurodragster.com page.

Running orders for MSA Pro Modified and JT Construction UK Top Sportsman are managed by the organisers
and will be posted when available.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event including Friday's
RWYB. Before 09:00 on any day vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden.
Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish
to raise any matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see the Race Secretary
who is based in Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes,
to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing
except to Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

Pursley takes Street Racer title.20th July: Chris Murty has been in touch with a review of the recent 40th Street Racer Championship at
York Raceway:

As the sun rose on Sunday morning and weary racers made their way out of their caravans or tents, there were three recent Street Racer winners ready and waiting in the pits:
Russ Pursley with his nitrous Chevrolet-powered Dutton, Ian Walley and his turbo big-block Ford Cortina and Simon Boot and the Blown BBC Bootlegger Camaro. All three were
on brand new street tyres which made qualifying very interesting with tyres not yet bedded in, meaning the drivers really had to drive their cars.

After three rounds of qualifying, Simon Boot was in the #1 spot with a 10.03, Russ Pursley with a 10.05 in #2, wild card and unknown racer Ged Jefferson with his Mitsubishi
Lancer Evolution #3 with 10.06 and Ian Walley #4 with a 10.2. The top three were within three hundredths of each other, this laid out what was going to be a thrilling Street
Racer Championship.

Round 1: Peter Richardson in his Honda Civic sporting cheater slicks, which are allowed for FWD, was the only FWD representative in the top eight and was up against Ged. Pete was
out the traps with a 0.5 Reaction (on other timing equipment would be 0.0) but lost out, running 11.7 to Ged who chose that moment to run a new PB of 9.6. The rest of the Street
Racer competitors were unnerved by the wild card, it was clear this wasn't going to be a three-horse race. Simon Boot was paired up with Andy Crolla and his Camaro, Simon got his
nose ahead and did what he needed to do, running a 10.7 to Andy's losing 11.8.

Ian Walley was up against Brian Coward's Subaru floor-panned Escort. Brian knew he needed to cut a good light to be in a position to be competitive, but unfortunately he set off
before the green, handing the win to Ian who was still trying to get the car back to where it was last event, running an off the pace 10.7. James Murray in the Rover V8 powered
Cortina estate running Megasquirt and nitrous v Russ Pursley who found form, winning comfortably with a 9.6, James running a new PB of 11.6.

Round 2 (semi-final): Simon Boot vs Ian Walley. A replay of the 2016 Street Racer Championship final - both cars ran 10.7 in the previous round, both drivers frantically adjusting
suspension, tyre pressures, doing everything they could to get the best out of their vehicle. Both drivers not wanting to red light and let the car do the racing, both reactions
were 0.97 (0.47), both sixty foots were 1.7 - Simon just started to get his nose in front at the eighth markers with a 6.7 to Ian's 6.8. Simon then opened the lead and took the win
running 9.9 to Ian's losing 10.4.

Russ v Ged - both cars ran 9.6 in the previous round, so on paper it was going to be another close race. Ged was out the traps first, Russ' sixty foot was better though with a 1.5 to Ged's
1.6. At the eighth markers, Russ had stretched the lead to four tenths - a 6.1 to Ged's 6.5. Ged didn't lose any more ground and went through the traps with a 9.8 but losing to Russ' 9.4.

The final: As is now traditional, the Street Racer Championship final was the very last run of the day. Both finalists were busy tinkering and changing their set-ups, then it was final
time. The crowed stayed back and the other racers came down to watch.

Russ was out of the traps first but only by eight thousandths of a second (0.7708 to Simon's 0.7788 ). Russ got the better sixty foot with a 1.6 to Simon's 1.7. He stretched out the
lead at the eighth with 6.4, Simon had to pedal to straighten the car, following Russ with a 6.6 eighth mile. With Russ just in the lead the next stage of nitrous unsettled the car
and he had to pedal it straight, Simon caught up and they were now neck and neck through the finish. Both drivers had no idea who had won as they went through the traps,
they turned around at the bottom of the track and returned for the presentation. The scoreboards showed 9.83 for Russ and 9.83 for Simon. Only the win light gave us an indication
of the winner.

Congratulations to Russ Pursley - the 40th Street Racer Champion winning with a 9.8340 and commiserations to Simon Boot, who narrowly missed out, losing with a 9.8391.

Swift snippets.19th July: It has been called the Burnout of the Century and if you weren't at Dragstalgia on Friday
to witness Arne Kallevik's tremendous smoker for yourself then we are pleased to present this clip from our
Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast. If you watch
full-screen then you should be able to spot Arne's right head gasket saying "Enough!" as he passes the 330-foot reflector.

Many thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from Dragstalgia,
which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the
left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Jay, Michelle, mum and dad and the rest of the team at Orange Pop racing would like to wish a massive Happy Birthday to UK Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow.
"Have a great day Simon and a wonderful year ahead", they say, adding "See you all back on the track soon".

Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news which we will clear on the next update, but we always have room for more so please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed
at Dragstalgia. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds in
competition. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded
for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for next week's Mopar
EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Mopar EuroNationals. The Perfect Light Award
is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried.
Eurodragster.com decals are available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been reset to £50 after it was won
by ET Bike racer Joe Elliott at the SPRC Summernationals. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend
to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or
eliminations in VW Pro, VW Sportsman and Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of
the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare
County Raceway in July; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Open Sport Nationals. The Perfect ET Award
is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV
in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one
on each side of the vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion;
we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are
available in the Signing On office.

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other
reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event including Friday's
RWYB. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden.
Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside
Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish
to raise any matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see the Race Secretary
who is based in Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes,
to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing
except to Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

All Pro ET and Super Pro ET cars running 9.90 or quicker must have an accepted lower engine oil-retention device (diaper). A belly pan may be used
in lieu of a device attached to the engine; the belly pan must extend from frame rail to frame rail and extend forward of the harmonic balancer and
rear of the engine block and must incorporate a minimum two inch high (51 mm) lip on all sides unless specified in Class Requirements.

A non-flammable, oil-absorbent liner is mandatory on the inside of the retention device in order to prevent oil spilling out.

If you have any further questions regarding the technical rules at the NitrOlympX please contact Frans at
dragracingtech@eircom.net.

Dragstalgia results.17th July: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway:

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award was not won and so has been increased to
£75 for this weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
reports, results, pit notes and galleries by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Bradbury inducted into Hall of Fame.15th July: A special British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame ceremony has been held on the start line at Santa Pod Raceway to induct
former Santa Pod Raceway Chief Starter and BDRHoF Honorary Chairman and Stu Bradbury. It had to be
special because, to protect the integrity of the selection process, the rules of the British Drag
Racing Hall of Fame prevent those on the Selection Board and the Management Board from being inducted.
However it was felt that in the case of Stu these rules needed breaking and with the
unanimous backing of both Boards, the Honorary International Ambassadors, ten randomly-selected
existing inducted members and BDRHoF Benefactor Geoff Stilwell, he was presented with his crystal
trophy along with a special certificate.

Few personalities in British drag racing are as well-known and respected as Stu Bradbury. For years
he served as Chief Starter at Santa Pod Raceway and subsequently became Founding Chairman of the
British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, which has since achieved international acclaim.

Stu discovered drag racing in 1964 not at one of Sydney Allard's International Drag Festival events,
but at a famous stately home, Woburn Abbey. Performing in a pop group at a function there, he stumbled
across a display organised by the British Hot Rod Association, then a sparse group of enthusiasts with
a dream of organised drag racing in the UK. The hot rods and dragsters on show struck a chord with Stu
and he joined the club, beginning a love affair with drag racing that has lasted over fifty years.

In 1965, Stu and his parents provided accommodation to Club Chairman John Bennett while a permanent
drag strip was being developed on Podington aerodrome, a disused wartime base located near Stu's
Wellingborough home. Stu himself lent a hand building Europe's first permanent drag racing venue,
christened Santa Pod Raceway.

Santa Pod opened in 1966. Stu spent non-race weekends digging and painting, while his first race day
job was crowd control. The following year he was promoted to Deputy Starter and then Chief Starter
in 1968. Stu encountered his first American racers when the American Commandos team visited Santa Pod
in 1966, and Scandinavian, Dutch and even South African entrants followed. Stu controlled the line
when Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy brought over their Funny Cars in 1973 and when Don Garlits made
his historic appearances in 1976 and 1977. Many other US stars he started included Tony Nancy, Raymond
Beadle, Gene Snow, Don Prudhomme, Sammy Miller and TC Christenson.

Stu even spent time on America's NHRA start line with Buster Couch. Alongside these drag racing stars,
show business personalities became involved and Stu's circle of friends encompassed many household names.

In 1990 Stu quit as Chief Starter to join then-employer John Woolfe Racing in a venture to develop Long
Marston Airfield into an NHRA-sanctioned track. Local planners thwarted the full plans, but the track
continues today as Shakespeare County Raceway. Stu joined UK parts supplier US Automotive on its launch
and also assisted Top Fuel Dragster star Andy Carter.

Remembering departed friends, in 2005 Stu and several colleagues founded the British Drag Racing Hall of
Fame, his chief focus since then, together with the restoration of Europe's first dragster, Sydney Allard's
1961 Allard Chrysler. He has lent support to Santa Pod's Dragstalgia meeting, now Europe's premier nostalgia
drag racing event.

Stu's personal credibility has helped his team develop the BDRHoF into today's internationally-respected
organisation. Sometimes fighting ill health, but always supported by wife Bev and daughter Genna, Stu has
continued the task of preserving the names of those who helped create the sport in the UK. Stu Bradbury – an
inspiring individual who truly deserves to be in the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Profile by Robin Jackson and Brian Taylor

British Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2017.14th July: The British Drag
Racing Hall Of Fame continues into its twelfth successful year and is pleased to announce the 2017 intake. Nominees
are eligible by dint of having raced, owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or
taken part in British drag racing in any capacity, having been involved for at least twenty years, or having made
a significant and recognisable contribution to the sport.

The 2017 inductees are:

LAWRIE GATEHOUSEProfile by Simon Groves

For over half a century Lawrie Gatehouse has contributed much to drag racing in the UK. His story started with
sprinting a Triumph Bonneville, however things changed after his first contact with drag racing at the Blackbushe
Drag Fest meeting in 1964. He had learned of the American racers coming over and was "Amazed and dumbfounded" at
what he witnessed. He became one of drag racing's regular photographers contributing to magazines like Autocar,
Motor, Autosport, Custom Car and National Drag Racer. He then took a few years away from
drag racing to start his own company Process Systems International. His training as a professional mechanical engineer
provided the foundations for business success and this gave him the resources to return to the sport with some bold new ideas.

Lawrie initially sponsored a few teams but in 2004 he renewed his acquaintance with Ollie Burn, whom he knew from the 1970s.
Ollie inspired him to get more closely involved with a class for which he always had a passion – Fuel Altereds. Lawrie conceived
and formed the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association with the prime aim to put on a show like it used to be when he was in the US.
The first meeting for the NFAA was Easter 2005 and, later, as many as fourteen teams competed, with Lawrie providing run money
to contribute to the teams' running costs.

He then turned to race car ownership and had the legendary Chaos Fuel Altered built from scratch in twelve weeks at the
start of 2006. John Wright was the original driver and Crew Chief, experiencing the car's evil handling. It usually ran mid- to
high sixes, but got away from John at Shakey and a new chassis was in order - with which John recorded even quicker runs. Gary
Page was the next driver of Chaos but the aerodynamics of the car still made it a handful with it rolling twice more, each accident
requiring a new chassis.

The turning point came with the involvement of Jason and Roy Phelps in constructing a lighter body with improved aerodynamics.
Nick Davies drove the car until it was retired at the end of 2015. Its PBs were 6.08/232.76.

It is for his contribution to photo-journalism both here and in the US, the formation and running of the NFAA, and creation of
the quickest Fuel Altered in Europe of its day, that Lawrie Gatehouse is inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

PIP HIGHAMProfile by Graham Beckwith

Pip Higham's first introduction to Drag Racing was in 1964 when a round of the International Drag Fest took place at Woodvale.
After crewing for Fred Whittle of Shutdown competition altered fame at early UK drag races he switched to two wheels
and in the early 1970s was competing as a rider with a selection of his own machines, a Rickman Triumph, a Honda and a triple
Kawasaki.

There followed a series of giant killings with a Suzuki GS750 during 1977 as he made a name for himself in production drag racing
and record breaking at Elvington the following year.

The quest for more performance saw the development of a Suzuki GS1000 followed by a GSX in subsequent years - racing across Europe
and ultimately America, during which time he also campaigned a turbo-charged Suzuki Funny Bike alongside his regular stable.

The background for all this success revolved around Pip's own business, the Village Bike Shop in Manchester, where he provided
a service for those who wished to go that much quicker than the rest. Built following the successes of his previous Street class
rides, where Pip had become first European into the ten-second bracket and then the first rider ever into the nines, The Deuce,
a VBS development producing 160 bhp from Pip's own tuning parts, ran in the 9.0 second bracket many times at terminal speeds up to 154
mph for the quarter mile. With backing from Heron Suzuki GB, Texaco and Superbike magazine, he did more than his fair share to
establish Pro Stock Motorcycle racing in Europe.

The Brighton Speed Trials saw Pip take The Deuce GSX1100 to an incredible 160 mph through the beams. In the course of its
competitive life this bike saw racing at Santa Pod, Brighton, York, Le Mans, Paul Ricard and Monza along with several regional events.
The stablemate for The Deuce at this time was the innovative Suzuperbike, a turbocharged B-class Gasser which lay claim
to a best ever 9.00/152 from just 1176 cc. Pip's incredible career continued with winning the Pro Stock Bike class three years running
at Le Mans, on board a VBS Suzuki. He also built and prepared the late Chris Hampson's ACU Championship winning Turbo Suzuki.

He made a significant contribution to the future of drag racing in the North when he became the catalyst that brought together sponsors,
workers, fund raisers and contractors to create a new quarter mile tarmac track at York Raceway capable of holding the best of Europe's
racers. The result of his efforts has enabled PDRC and York Raceway to hold safe and successful drag racing events on the original strip
to the present day. It is for his support and enthusiasm for bike drag racing as a competitor and a builder, plus his help in establishing
drag racing in the North of England, that Pip Higham is inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

STEVE WOOLLATTProfile by Keith Lee

Steve Woollatt has successfully raced in the top tier of drag bike racing for some thirty years. He started in 1976 riding a
Z1 Kawasaki. It ran low twelve-second times and was the catalyst for racing a full season the following year during which he
won his first Street Bike Eliminator. The following year saw him win five more and by this time he had fitted the Kawasaki
motor into a distinctive Egli frame. The desire to go quicker led to purchasing a part-built blown Kawasaki drag bike that
was believed to be the first of its type to be built in the UK. With help from Pat Neal, the Daytona Motorcycles sponsored
machine was completed and running in 1979. Reliability on nitro was a major issue so the pair decided something better was
needed.

In 1980 they fielded their completely new entry – a distinctive blue metalflake B/Fuel machine that raced in the Top Bike
Eliminator. It quickly hit the mid nine-second bracket, and over a number of years of development it ran a best of 7.8/175,
winning on its final appearance in the Pro Fuel class of the late 1980s. Steve was then offered a ride on the Fuel bike of
fellow rider Phil Baimbridge. Enjoying the experience he took up the offer to purchase the bike and still rides it today.
Phil has remained a big help over the years, as numerous developments to produce ever more power have been made.

Over the years, Steve has won no fewer than fifteen ACU Top Fuel Bike Championships on that bike, known as The Dealer.
One of the highlights of his many years of racing was cracking the sixes and 200 mph in the early 1990s. Since those days
times have improved to a best of 6.19/228 in Top Fuel Bike, making him the third quickest British rider of all time. His
best sixty-foot time is an impressive 0.97 seconds!

Steve really made the headlines in September 2014, when he featured in an amazing race against Fil Papafilippou at the
FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod. An out of control Fil changed lanes under full acceleration - and crashed into
the side of Steve's bike at high speed! Somehow the Greek rider ended up hanging on for dear life to Steve's wheelie bars.
Totally unfazed, Steve rode his own monster bike safely to a standstill, to the immense relief of his unexpected passenger,
who escaped with just minor tyre burns! This unsettling incident happened in the first round of eliminations, but it did not
stop the fearless Woollatt going on to win the final!

With help from his hard-working team, this low-budget veteran racer shows no signs of slowing down in the premier league of
two-wheeled racing. It is for his long and successful career in the top echelons of drag bike racing that Steve Woollatt has
been inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

JOHN AND LESLEY WRIGHTProfile by Simon Groves

John and Lesley Wright have substantially influenced the direction of drag racing in the UK. In 1985, after racing a series
of cars since 1973, John commenced his involvement with the sport's organisational side. As Chairman of the Midland Drag
Racing Association he helped overhaul the safety rules, race licence procedures and the introduction of log books for cars.
In 1988 he joined Anthony Hodges as Track Manager at Long Marston. The track was renamed Avon Park Raceway in 1989 and in
the same year John published Fire Up magazine, which became an international journal of the sport. In 1991, with Ron
Clark, John promoted the Pro Comp Classic.

He was an active Committee member of the Avon Park International Racers Association and around the same time was a founding
member of Santa Pod Racers Club, representing APIRA and sat on the RAC sub-committee. After a period working with Stu Vallance,
Jonathan Lovett and Oyver Jacobsen, he commenced a successful period as Crew Chief for Swedish racer Viveca Averstedt which
culminated in 1998 with two events in the USA running a best of 4.88/271 – at that time, the quickest run ever by a European
team. He went on to work with Alan Jackson, Knut Söderqvist, Tony Betts and Smax Smith. Between 2002 and 2005, with Darryl
Bradford, he owned and tuned the Wildside Top Fuel car. Following this from 2006 to 2009, he was Crew Chief and driver of
the Chaos Fuel Altered, recording a 6.195, then Europe's quickest Fuel Altered pass.

Lesley Wright (née Digby) grew up locally to Santa Pod. She and Allan Herridge became partners during the period when Allan
was Track Manager at Santa Pod, and her job was to hand out the pit gate money to racers. After Allan's passing, Lesley joined the
BDR&HRA Committee to represent Street classes, and with Al O'Connor undertook a tour of the US in 1988 attending seventeen NHRA
events. After a further US tour in 1990, which was documented in Fire Up magazine and seeing bracket racing first hand,
Lesley promoted it in the UK, joining the newly-formed SPRC committee. She also gained sponsorship for the Super Gas Drag Racers
Association.

By the mid-1990s Lesley was full time SPRC Secretary and she masterminded its formation into a Limited Liability Company to protect
its members. She worked with the Technical Committee to revise the drag racing rule book that John had worked on a decade previously
which introduced SFI safety measures to Europe. In 1997 she and John were married and Lesley became the lynchpin of the Wildside
and Chaos crews. Lesley was also involved at the start of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. It is for John's and Lesley's
work in helping to create a stable and safe platform for drag racers that has lasted over twenty years, their achievements in promoting
the sport and competing at the highest level, that John and Lesley Wright are inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

KARSTEN ANDERSEN AND PER ANDERSENProfile by Tog

On a trip from Denmark to Mantorp Park in the late 1980s, fellow Car Club members Karsten Andersen and Per Andersen noticed a
Comp Eliminator dragster for sale. The rest is history.

After alternating drives in the Comp Dragster Karsten and Per were invited to join the Top Fuel team of fellow Dane Jens Nybo.
Jointly calling the shots, they tuned Jens to European series wins preceding the FIA era and then the first FIA European Top
Fuel Dragster Championship in 1996.

Kim Reymond bought Jens' dragster in 2002 and, tuned by Karsten and Per, took that year's FIA Championship. In August 2003
there was a sign of things to come at Gardermoen in Norway when the team didn't bother with the 4.8s but went straight from
4.9s to Europe's first 4.7-second run, followed a few weeks later by the shot heard around Europe, Kim's 4.645/317.56 in
qualifying at the 2003 FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, although an injury sustained at the hit of the parachutes
ended Kim's racing career. In 2005 Karsten and Per assisted Swedish Top Fuel racer Tommy Möller to runner-up spot in the FIA
Championship.

Karsten and Per started their own Top Fuel operation in 2006 with a state-of-the-art dragster imported from the USA and driven
by Swedish Pro Modified standout Håkan Nilsson. Håkan set an ET record of 4.830 seconds and won that year's FIA
Championship before retiring. UK legend Andy Carter stepped into the dragster and Karsten and Per tuned him to the FIA Championship
in 2007 and 2009, equalling Kim's 4.645 ET then in 2010 setting his third quarter-mile record of 4.572 seconds, which will never be
broken.

Karsten and Per shipped the car to America for several events with Norway's Thomas Nataas in the seat before returning to Europe.
American star Tommy Johnson Jr drove the dragster in 2011, setting a 1000-foot ET record of 4.008 seconds and building a clear
Championship lead before a licence suspension ruled him out mid-season. Thomas returned to the seat and won the FIA Championship
in 2013. Thomas set three speed records, finishing with a best of 316.40 mph, and amassed the most Championship points in 2014
before a controversial points reallocation after a licence suspension robbed him of the European title. As a result Karsten and
Per withdrew from European racing and sold the dragster to US racer Scott Palmer.

Karsten continued in racing, working with Sweden's Jonnie and Johan Lindberg in Top Alcohol and Fuel Funny Car on the NHRA Tour,
whilst Per retired from racing to develop his business although remaining involved in a local Car Club.

Tuning seven Top Fuel Dragster racers to a long list of European Championship titles, event wins, round wins, and ET and speed
records is one of the most outstanding achievements in the history of European drag racing and it is for the tuning skills and
tactical nous which generated this success that Karsten Andersen and Per Andersen are inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall
of Fame.

Members of the Hall of Fame receive a 'Bootsie', a trophy encapsulating an image of the late Allan 'Bootsie'
Herridge, a man who put so much into British drag racing, together with an exclusive commemorative pin. They
join the élite list of inductees from previous years and will be listed on the official British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site
which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the British
Hall of Fame link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

The Hall of Fame trophies will be presented at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Dinner at the historic Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge
on Saturday 18th November. Reservations can be made for the Gala by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 and this includes a pre-dinner reception and table wine. The event always sells out well in
advance, so if you would like to join us for the occasion then we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your
reservation you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate which includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame could not exist without practical help and support from sponsorship partner Beech Underwriting Agencies,
major sponsors US Automotive and Santa Pod Racers Club, and event sponsors Lucas Oil Products UK, DialAFlight, Institute of Professional
Drivers, Atlantic Fluid Tech, Rat Trap Racing, Straightliners Events and Kelsey Media. Thanks also to the Pennine Drag Racing Club, Avon Park
International Racing Association, Aptitude and Prop Portfolio for their support.

Dragstalgia: The Ever-Presents.13th July: Eurodragster.com Pit Reporter Simon has been working hard researching and
identifying potential Event Coverage victims at Dragstalgia
at Santa Pod Raceway, and has again compiled a list of those racers who have attended every Dragstalgia.

Simon has also compiled a list of Dragstalgia débutants which you can check out by
clicking here (PDF format) and a webcast and
spectator bank Spotters' Guide to Dragstalgia contestants which you can check out by
clicking here (PDF format).

You will be able to check out Simon's Dragstalgia pit notes on our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
Dragstalgia Event Coverage Index by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

SPR Junior Fun Day entry.14th July: Entry is still open for Santa Pod Raceway's
Junior Drag
Racing Fun Day which returns for a fifth year on Thursday 24th August. Donna Finnegan
writes:

Since the first Junior Day, held in 2013, almost 13,000 spectators have attended the event
with over £9,000 being raised for various charities. Our chosen beneficiary for 2017
is the Helping Harry Trust
based in Daventry. Harry suffered severe brain damage after a traumatic birth and as a result
he now has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy along with many other complex needs.

As always, the track action is dedicated to the Junior racers and the entry form is still available
for Junior Dragster, Junior Funny Car and Junior Drag Bike racers wishing to take part on the day.
The entry form can be downloaded (PDF format) by
clicking here.
Racers will need to telephone the Santa Pod office on 01234 782828 to book their race voucher
(outside the UK +44 1234 782828). There is a sign-on fee of £20 which will go towards the Helping
Harry Trust. Any forms submitted without payment will not be entered into the event.

More money for UK Top Sportsman.14th July: Paul Marston writes that the prize fund has increased for JT Construction
UK Top Sportsman which takes place during the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 28th-30th June:

The prize money for the Heads-Up race has doubled courtesy of John Tebenham. So the prize fund now stands at £1000 cash
for the winner, £750 for the runner-up, and £500 to both semi-final losers. These are guaranteed amounts regardless
of car counts. The Fast Bracket race will still enjoy the usual Top Sportsman purse which is based on car count. It's the richest, toughest,
hardest-fought Sportsman doorslammer event on the calendar where everyone who is anyone comes to beat the best to prove that they
are the best. The very best Sportsman doorslammer teams will be there fighting it out for the money, the trophies and the kudos of having
won the event.

The format remains the same. Friday Fast Bracket Race with buy-back for first round losers, run to conclusion. Saturday, relax and enjoy
the day or join in the RYWB. Saturday night the one shot qualifier for the sixteen-spot Heads-Up eliminator with eliminations on
Sunday. Early entry is available and included in your entry is an electric hook-up for the whole weekend.

This is an outlaw race so as long as you have the correct safety equipment, which does not have to be in date as it does at MSA events,
then you can race. Other than safety there are no rules, no weight minimum, no engine size capacity, nitrous, turbos, prochargers,
superchargers or even all of them. You use a normal driving licence as at RWYBs, you go not need a race licence. This is an event run
by racers for racers, so don't delay enter today - there is still time, entry is not closed, we will keep it open as late as we can.

Last year this was one of the very best events with flawless track conditions. The Pro Mods run at the same event so you know
the track prep will be up to the usual high Santa Pod standards.

You can check out the Version 2 of the JT Construction UK Top Sportsman entry list by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

For more information please E-Mail our new address pmdragracing@gmail.com
(the old address is dead thanks to Orange), Facebook UK Top Sportsman, or call 07831 650230.

Special thanks to all our marketing partners new and old, Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), the Mopar guys
for hosting us and Santa Pod management for all their help. Last but by no means least, thanks to all the Top Sportsman crew who
come together once a year to make this run smoothly. See you there... bring it on!

Swift snippets.14th July: Good luck and stay safe to the UK's multiple FIM Europe Top
Fuel Bike Champion Ian King who is contesting this weekend's third round of the USA Drag Bike Championship,
the Manufacturers Cup, at the new eighth-mile facility at Galot in North Carolina. Results will be available at
Dragbike.com,
Stripbike.com, and on Ian's
Facebook page.

Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has updated the the Drag Racing Europe Blog with a report of
the highlights in EDRS Pro Motorcycle classes at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. You
can check it out by clicking
here.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with two large galleries from the Saturday of the
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

All our racing took place on the Saturday, as Sunday was going to be dedicated to the Street Racer Championship.

In American Super Stock, Dave Billadeau got #1 in qualifying running a 10.5800 on a 10.58 dial in, Kris Thoburn took the number two spot in a borrowed
Mustang. Both Kris and Dave made their way through the ladder to meet in the final, a sharp reaction of 0.52 gave Kris the edge – Dave, having to wait
5.5 seconds before the green, knew not to be too keen otherwise he would risk a red light, set off 0.64 after the green and went on to take the win.

In Sportsman ET, Kris' form continued, getting all the way to the final to meet CJ in his £50 Subaru. CJ knew Kris was pulling excellent Reaction
Times all day and had to find a little more, but found too much and red lit, gifting the win to Kris.

In Pro ET, Team Nowak took the #1 spot in qualifying and got themselves to the final, where they met Mia in the Wraith Chevrolet pickup. Two
excellent Reaction Times, but team Nowak lost some time down the track, giving Mia enough to get her nose in front and keep it there. Current
Championship leader Richard Granger met reigning Champion (and current number two in the Championship ) Lee Chiles in round 1 - a breakout from
Lee let Richard though to the semis where he lost out to Mia.

In Super Cup, reigning Champion and current leader Paul Grainger and the Ford Anglia was sat in the # 1 spot in qualifying and met Mason Griffiths
with his LS1-powered rail In the final. Paul kept his nose in front, taking the win.

In JDM-DRC, CJ took the #1 spot in qualifying, but had a huge breakout in the first round. It was a Lexus battle in the final, as Shaun Rounthwaite and
his V8 Lexus met Dave Smith in his Lexus, a red light for Dave gifting the win to Shaun as he lengthened the lead in the Championship.

In Pro FWD, new racer Ricky Barker joined the pack with his turbo Peugeot. Just running the engine in hetook out Lee Opey in the UK's fastest Punto
in the semis, but did not have enough to beat Pete and his Civic in the final.

In Hot Rod, Terry Morgan and the Morris that won the war met Derek Beck and his TVR in the final, with Derek taking the win.

We have another double round of all of our race classes at our UK National Hot Rod Reunion (and fortieth birthday!) on 27th-28th August.

In addition Helen and David at Zeon TV have released the latest Web TV coverage of the MSA Pro Modified round
at the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out Zeon TV's programme at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hmt5TSyCcg.

At the same time I'd like to invite racers in all FIM Europe classes to come up with suggestions for the rules in
their specific class. If you have any comments then please talk to me at the track or E-Mail me at the above address.
This will help us make better rules for everyone.

Don't get me wrong: we are not necessarily looking for more rules. Keeping the rules as they are, or less rules,
are both an option too.

Dragstalgia racer and fan update.11th July: Many thanks to James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway
for passsing on details of the arrangements for this weekend's Dragstalgia:

Santa Pod Raceway's gates are open to those with racer tickets only between 12:00 and 21:00 on Thursday (13th). All those
booked in to race should have racer tickets. Those with General Admission tickets will not be allowed in on Thursday.

Santa Pod's gates will then be opened to all at 08:00 on Friday for the duration of the event.

Friday's, Saturday's and Sunday's event schedules including provisional on-track running orders are now available and can be checked out by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please
note that, as ever, these running orders are provisional and subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any
other reason deemed necessary by the organisers.

The usual noise curfew applies: no race motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on Friday, Saturday
or Sunday.

Thanks to Nigel Taylor for letting us know that the A43 Silverstone by-pass is a no-through road between Friday and Sunday due to the British Grand
Prix, so please plan an alternative route.

Finally a reminder that Eurodragster.com will be announcing this year's inductees to the British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame at 12:00 midday on Friday, coinciding with the scheduled start of the RWYB.

Another Perfect Dragstalgia bonus.11th July: We are very pleased to announce that Cath and Tig Napier of the UK's Bad Habit Racing Pro ET team, who sponsor the
Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award, have again requested that we post the Award at this weekend's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway.
The money will be on offer during Saturday and Sunday.

This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racer Harley Jay Darby at the SPRC Summernationals. The Award will be paid in cash to the first person to
record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to all, whether in the organised classes or Invitational
Run What You Brung, during Saturday and Sunday (NB Not during Friday's RWYB - Ed) but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for next week's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway;
if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Bug Jam.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried, although we understand that
this may not be possible on period-correct vehicles. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office from Friday morning or from
the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only).

An old-school reunion.11th July: Participant Dave Gibbons says that those who neither contested nor attended last week's inaugural
Gearhead Garage No Prep Nationals at North Weald Airfield missed out on something truly special and fun:

No-prep racing is getting big in the USA, and while this was not on the scale of Street Outlaws there were similarities. The event was the brainchild of Paul
Marston, who already runs the UK Top Sportsman doorslammer event at the Mopar Euronationals each year. With the blessing of Tony Huck, the organiser
of the North Weald Test and Tune sessions, a plan was formulated.

There was none of this "Banging the light" you get on TV, the traditional Christmas Tree being utilised for the start so there was at least no question over
"Jumping". However we were only running over the eighth-mile, no times or speeds were recorded, and the winner was declared by the eagle eye of
Gary Springford backed up by video recording. After two practice hits the pairings and lane choice were pulled from a bag. And with only fourteen cars making
it on the day there were a couple of handy bye runs (but not for me).

Having had experience of racing back in the day on airfield tracks such as North Weald and Blackbushe - yes, I am that old (Not just you - Ed) - it was
great to get back to the old way of doing things. An event held and completed in one day - five hits in as many hours - has immense appeal, back to using
grip juice and actually having to pedal a car to control the traction.

Being only eighth-mile and with a £1000 winner-takes-all prize fund, it brought out a couple of cars you might not otherwise have seen and no-one
had it easy. It was anyone's race to win. We were racing the track as much as each other, and I can't say that I knew any of my opponents - I don't think they
knew me. There were none of the probably-totally-scripted (Probably? - Ed) arguments seen on Street Outlaws, but there was plenty of banter
and gamesmanship in the form of "I've got a problem with my car" type statements to put the opposition off-guard.

I drove the Paul Marston Racing Whoopass Monza and ended up going out in the semis with a red-light, however in my defence Paul repeatedly told me
"You won't go red here" and after pulling a red on the second practice run he made some adjustments to the car saying "Now you definitely won't go red"!
Hmmm.

Thanks to Paul Marston Racing and the team for organising the event and to Paul for inviting me to drive the Monza. Also event sponsor Gearhead Garage, Tony Huck
at Maitland Racing for allowing us to infiltrate the event, Super Crew Seff Whitlock and Sam Marston for looking after me and the car, and finally congratulations to
Dave Wiggins who took home the pot.

All in all a terrific day which I hope will be repeated soon. I haven't heard anything negative about the event, and I know Paul is investigating
opportunities.

The retirement is off!11th July: On return from an outstandingly successful test session at Santa Pod Raceway Karl Harrison writes
with a mid-season review for Rod Harrison and the NUA / RKS Top Methanol Dragster team. "Where do I begin?", says Karl. A quick overview of the start
of the season is a good place:

We arrived at Santa Pod for the Festival of Power to carry out some pre-season testing, but we didn't really achieve anything as we were plagued with gearbox issues all
weekend. A massive thanks to Steve Woollatt for loaning us his only spare B&J sprag. We came away from that meeting very frustrated and unhappy with the weekend's
runs. As a team we could only look forward and hopefully upwards to the FIA / Main Event. We resolved the problems with the gearbox and arrived at the Main Event
feeling hopeful that things would be back to normal. Sadly this didn't happen. As most of you know, for the whole of this event we were chasing electrical problems and
we ended up only getting one run with no issues, in the first round.

It was time for a major rethink. Dad wasn't happy driving the car, the crew had lost all their enthusiasm, and it was looking like we were going backwards instead of forwards.
We had a team meeting and Dad proposed that we changed back to using a three-speed transmission and clutch set-up. A three-speed B&J transmission was purchased from
Habermanns, and we already had a new Crower clutch. Once we had gathered all the small components required we set to and got it all fitted.

The first procedure was to fire the car up on its stands to see if everything worked correctly and to ensure that we had three gears. The next decision was to ring Santa Pod
to see if we could test the car at the BMW Show / RWYB. At this point we would like to thank all the staff at Santa Pod who were working to enable us to attend, and an
extra thanks to Bob Day and John O'Shea for their efforts prepping the track, you guys made our weekend.

We arrived at the startline for our first run and things were looking promising, unfortunately there was an issue with the timing system so we didn't get a timing ticket plus
the datalogger decided not to play ball. Having got the car back to the pits we carried out a full service and on Saturday evening enjoyed the rest of the evening with Rob
Elsom and his crew. Sunday morning arrived and Dad decided he was ready to put in a full pass.

We warmed the car up and again arrived at the start line. The car was fired up, I signalled Dad forward for his burnout, the burnout was perfect and the car reversed back
to the start line, the normal checks were carried out and the car was put into stage. Dad then went up on the revs, the lights ran and he was gone. Everybody had their eyes
glued to the gantry and what came up was just amazing, a PB 5.74/234 with a 0.96 sixty foot. To say we were delighted would be an understatement. Having got the car
back to the pits Andy, Abby and Jacko carried out the service of the engine, Jono checked and cleaned the oil filter and refilled it whilst Tasha and I removed the gearbox,
dismantled the clutch, reassesed the measurements and reassembled it ready for the next run.

We arrived at the start line for the 2:30 pm slot. Permission had been given for Mum to run against Dad in her Pop. Mum was waiting for Dad to do his burnout then they
both went into stage. Unfortunately Mum got shut down with a water leak (well spotted John), so back to the other lane. Dad went up on the revs, took the green light and
launched. The launch was incredible, it was an arrow straight run and what came up on the gantry sent us all into orbit: 5.63/250 with a 0.93 sixty foot. We had smashed
every PB we had ever run. I don't really know nor can describe what was going through my mind on the startline. Having got the car back in the pits and on the stands,
Mum downloaded the datalogger which had worked perfectly and has given us some impressive data to use next time out.

What a fantastic weekend we had. As always a massive thanks to our super crew Andy, Abby, Jacko, Jono, Lisa and a special thanks to Tasha for putting up with the
countless hours I spend in the workshop and helping with doing the dirtiest job on the car... the clutch! I must also give a huge thanks to Dave Wilson for the countless
hours he has spent on the phone with me for our clutch tune-up and also Timo Habermann and the whole Habermann family for their help and assistance and for
supplying us with a superb three-speed transmission.

So what's next then? We had hoped to return to Hockenheim but due to work commitments and the lack of finance, bearing in mind the amount spent getting the car
to where it is now, we have had to make the decision not to attend this year. So our next outing will be the European Finals. The good news is that we have talked Dad
into not retiring at the end of this year (Yay - Ed) and to carry on for another season. The whole team are delighted about that and are looking forward to the rest
of this year and next.

Last but not least a sincere Thank You to our sponsors NUA. If there are any individuals or companies who would be interested in sponsoring the UK's only Top
Methanol Dragster then please contact Rod on 07798 644186.

As has been the case this season, Jimmy ran a solid set of qualifying rounds in Magnus Petersson's Old 51 Chevrolet Business Coupe Pro Mod. Every round worked out as planned
and Ålund ended up in the #2 qualifying spot with an elapsed time of 5.97 seconds. "Qualifying was good", said Jimmy. "The car did what we expected including testing of settings
from which we learned". There were some engine issues after qualifying concluded and the team worked into the evening with the result a stronger car for eliminations.

Jimmy won E1 with an ET of 6.01 seconds but ran into trouble in the quarter finals. "The car overpowered the track with the result was that I pedalled" says Jimmy. "It was a wild ride
going all over the track and that of course led to losing the race."

Jimmy qualifed well and set both ends of the Alastaro track record in Pro Stock during the weekend. The new ET record is now 6.59 followed up by a speed record of 340.32 kmh
(211.46 mph). Jimmy won the quarter finals with a strong ET of 6.63 seconds together with the track record speed, and was set for more of the same in the semi finals but it was
not to be. "We were doing great all weekend up to that point when one of those unpredictable electrical gremlins showed up", says Jimmy. "As soon as I let out the clutch I was
in trouble and the weekend was over".

Summarising the weekend, Jimmy says "We have two very strong cars and highly skilled teams and we are more than satisfied with our qualifying efforts. Unfortunately, we need
to get Lady Luck on our side when it comes to going through every rounds on the Sunday. But, of course, that's racing."

The next event for Jimmy Ålund is in FIA Pro Modified at the NitrOlympX at the Hockenheimring, Germany. Jimmy will leave the Pro Stock car at home for that race and will
fire up the Old 51 for the first round of qualifying on Friday morning, 19th August. "As always, we can't wait to get there and put more rounds in the car in front of the record crowd
which is the trademark of the NitrOlympX", says Jimmy.

Summit Racing Equipment is sponsoring both the Old 51 Pro Mod and the Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro this season. The Old 51 Team and Jimmy Ålund Pro Stock
Racing Team are very grateful for the continuing support from such a great company.

Swift snippets.11th July: We have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com team today (Tuesday): please join Tog, Simon and Julian in wishing a very Happy
Birthday to our Photographer, Sportsman ET racer and Fox Hunt winner Kirstie. Have a lovely day Kirstie and see you on Friday.
Happy Birthday also to Track Announcer, comedian and all-round top bloke Graham Beckwith. Have a great day
Graham.

Starting on 7th August Ian and Darren, in close collaboration with Hockenheim's Head of Track Michael Vogel and crew, will drag slicks over the asphalt,
then grind, drag slicks again, spray hundreds of litres of glue, check, and then so it all over again until by 18th August the quarter mile asphalt lanes will
have been converted into pure traction for the up to three hundred participating teams from across Europe.

Race Director Jerry Lackey is looking forward to the NitrOlympX. "We welcome all classes Pro or Sportsman as we have for over thirty one years", he says,
"and we will invest all of our efforts to provide our racers with a track which is the best of the best."

As in previous years, teams which bring used slicks for use on the drag strip will receive a team ticket for each tyre.

At this point we would like to take the opportunity to put an end to a rumour: over the first sixty feet the glue is not hand-massaged into the asphalt
in small circles with small brushes. If you have the opportunity to watch one of the track preparation sessions (indicated in the running order) the complexity
of the job will become evident.

Double your numbers.10th July: This weekend's Dragstalgia
ar Santa Pod Raceway includes the second running of the Slingshot Showdown with an entry double the size of last year's contest. Slingshot
racer Mark Bishop writes:

Going from six slingshots to twelve is quite a jump and should make for some interesting and fast racing. With four front-engined cars making the trip from Sweden
and one from Norway there will be a great opportunity for the fans and the UK teams to see and race these guys for the first time. We look forward to meeting Caj
Carlsson, Rolf Nilsson, Magnus Larsson, Leif Andersson and Arne Kallevik.

This year we also have Dave Nelson, Roy Wilding and Mick Hannah joining us. Last year's runner-up car is back again to have another go, but in the hands of new
owner Steve Johnson who has already got to grips with car running low sevens. Also returning is last year's Champ Joe Bond for whom everyone will be aiming,
especially Bob Hawkins who has just had the front of his chassis rebuilt and a bigger motor than last year's between the rails.

Finally that leaves us, in the Grey Vegas slingshot having switched fuels from C14 to E85 at the end of last year and dropping a few tenths off our best time
at the Flame and Thunder Show. We have produced some T-Shirts this year and they will be on sale in our pit at only £12.

Swift snippets.10th July: Further to yesterday's news item, Ian Turburville
writes that UK legend Dennis Priddle will be reunited with his legendary, record-setting Donovan Hemi #144 at Dragstalgia this weekend.
The motor, which formerly resided in his Mr Revell as well as his STP Avenger and Don Garlits' Swamp Rat 21 held the record as the
world's quickest slingshot for nearly twenty years, now resides in the True Blood slingshot built and raced by Ian and daughter Laura for Bloodlines
Racing. It will be on display in the historic display marquee and will be cackling several times over the weekend along with Wild Bill Sherratt's American car.

Congratulations from her Eurodragster.com colleagues to Photographer and Sportsman ET racer Kirstie who took the ladies' Fox Hunt
Gamblers' race at Shakespeare County Raceway yesterday (Sunday). Driving Andy Przybyl's Subaru Legacy Kirstie qualified #1 and took
the event win against Holly Baldwin. Kirstie's eagerness for fruit robbed her of the overall Bracket Gamblers' title against Neil Lalouette to whom
congratulations also, and to Leo Lester who took the title in the bike event.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to APIRA race official Pat Salt. Have a great day Pat.

Dennis' own racing career started more than fifty years ago, and exactly forty years back he was in the hot seat of the well-loved Olavi Knuutinen
Monza funny car which he had just completed building down in Somerset. He was busy setting records, and had some fierce battles with the late Bootsie
Herridge in Sweden and at Santa Pod during July 1977. These were a major highlight for race fans. All these years on, Dennis might also get to see that
selfsame Monza body still in action at Dragstalgia in the hands of Wild Bunch racer Phil James.

The Slingshot Showdown will be something to catch Dennis' attention at Santa Pod, as it was in this class that he set a world quickest elapsed time of
6.04 seconds in his Mr Revell dragster - a mark which remained unbeaten for so many years.

Currently the subject of a book being written about his colourful racing career, titled Mr Six - The Story of Drag Racing Legend Dennis Priddle,
Dennis is coming to the event with book author Keith Lee, who should pick up a few more amusing stories during the long journey. Over the weekend,
on Saturday and Sunday, Dennis will be joined by a number of other drag racing heroes in the signing sessions organised by the British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame.

Swift snippets.9th July: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to photographer and occasional
Eurodragster.com Coverage Team member Callum Pudge. Have a great day Callum.

Web site updates.9th July: Continuing the Nostalgia theme, Chris Eyre writes that the Euro
Nostalgia Funny Car page has been updated with a report, videos and pictures from the SPRC Summernationals. "It
was great to see the cars running so strongly", says Chris. "Not long until the next non-points event, Dragstagia, where
five FCs are entered for the Nostalgia Cannonball. A great event for lovers of old school racing". You can take a look at
the Euro Nostalgia Funny Car site at
euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com.

Terry Chandler.8th July: Terry Chandler, philanthropist extraordinaire and enthusiastic
supporter of professional drag racing – best known as the lady backing Don Schumacher
Racing's Make-A-Wish and Infinite Hero Top Fuel Dragsters and Fuel Funny Cars – sadly
passed away in Florida on 27th June aged 65 after a short battle with brain cancer. Mike
Lintern writes:

Make-A-Wish grants adventurous wishes to children with serious or life-threatening
conditions, while the Infinite Hero Foundation, combats mental and physical issues
facing returning military heroes and their families, both charities receiving valuable
support by Terry and family via the funding of DSR cars carrying their liveries in
recent years.

The UK's FGR Motorsport Fuel Funny Car team were introduced to Terry by Don
Schumacher at this year's NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville and from that meeting
sprung a tie-up which has led to the team's Gladiator Fuel Funny Car carrying
the Make-A-Wish banner for its UK operation.

Both the FGR Motorsport team and Santa Pod Raceway, who are jointly hosting the
first visit to the track by Foundation "Wish Kids" at Bug Jam later this month, extend
their sincere condolences to Terry's family for their loss.

Thanks to Mike Collins for letting us know that you can read tributes to Terry on
NHRA.com by clicking
here and a feature on Autoweek by
clicking
here.

Swift snippets.8th July: Unfortunately continuing on a sad note the UK Outlaw Anglia
pits will never be the same again following the death of Phil Middleton's friend and crew,
the legendary Scott, after an illness which from his behaviour you would never know
he was suffering. A strong guy and one of our irreplaceable characters who always had everyone
in stitches. Our deepest sympathies to Scott's family and to Ginner and his other friends.

Many thanks to Producer and all-round good egg Julian Parsons for letting us know that
Nitro FM will start its Dragstalgia broadcasts at Santa Pod Raceway at 18:00 this
Thursday (13th). Broadcasts will then commence at 07:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
You will be able to tune in at the track on 96.2 FM and elsewhere around the planet at
www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super class racer and Al's Gasser
Super Gas Shootout organiser Jon Giles. Have a great day Jon.

Coffee + cake = cancer beaten.8th July: Eurodragster.com Photographer and Sportsman ET racer Kirstie
tells is that a Charity Coffee Morning is to be held in the Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET
pits at Bug Jam on Friday 21st July:

Our Coffee Morning on the Friday is to raise money for Macmillan, the cancer charity. As you may know,
a very special lady in the Sportsman ET ranks, Gill Medley, has recently been diagnosed with cancer and after
a swift meeting between myself and Alan Medley at the SPRC Summernationals we began to hatch a plan!

The best plans always involve cake, coffee and drag racing.

We are holding the Coffee Morning on the Friday as we are all there setting up anyway, and we aren't qualifying
until the next day, so it seems the perfect time. It also means that we can eat cake without the hazard of our dial-ins
suffering! Cake donations would be most grateful and extremely welcome but even better would be for everyone,
whether Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET racer or not, to come and eat the cake for a small fee.

Thank you to Clive and Jane McCready who have already offered the loan of a water urn for drinks and to a family
friend of Alan's who will be making fresh samosas. If anybody can help with donations of cake, biscuits, coffee
machines or anything which you would like to donate, please do get in touch. If anybody has a table which they
could lend for a morning, this would be extremely helpful too. Alan and I are both on Facebook or
you can contact me at kej_brite@hotmail.com.

Whilst the Coffee Morning is going on, Alan will be organising a slot drags elimination in which you can compete for
a donation (Oh, hello - former Slot Drags racer Ed). The track is 1:64 scale which is about Matchbox size and is
thirteen feet long. It is equipped with Christmas Tree, red light sensors and win lights. Alan says that he has a choice
of cars but people are most welcome to bring their own if they so wish, the more the merrier!

Hope to see you all there and supporting a great cause. Together we will beat it.

Reunited and it feels so good...8th July: UK Fuel legend Gary Page will be reunited with his biggest love
when he straps in to the seat of Mark and Jackie Hawkins' new Panic Fuel Funny Car at
Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway on 21st-23rd July. Gary has been crewing with various Top Fuel
Dragster teams for several years, most recently with Liam Jones, but has dearly wanted to get
back into a car himself.

"This has been a long time coming but now it's two weeks away I'd better start worrying about it!",
Gary told Eurodragster.com. "Mark and Jackie have put so much money into it. It's a brand new chassis which has never
been on a race track so it should be perfect. But if you get in a brand new rental car you still want to know how it works, you want
to know if the cigarette lighter works, you want to know how the cruise control works. And I need to get back into it, I need to make
familiarisation passes and get my licence signed off again. Hopefully it will be like riding a bike - you can't compare it to my last drive,
the Chaos Fuel Altered, that was like riding a pair of roller skates compared to a Funny Car!"

Gary says that no-one wants him to do well more than his Rune Fjeld Motorsport colleagues. "I enjoy working with them and
they are all chuffed for me", he said. "But it's good to be back on the other side of the fence. Mark's crew are all young guys
and they are very good and enthusiastic. They are clever kids and you need younger guys coming into the sport. Mark and Brett
are overseeing it all but the three of us are getting a bit long in the tooth now. I hope I won't let them down."

The team are loading up the trailer this weekend and will be at Bug Jam early on the Friday (21st). The plan is to put in a sixty
foot launch as early as possible and then maybe a 330-foot pass and then to take everything apart and inspect it. "It'll be good
to get back out there and see what we can do", said Gary. "It has been a bit of an epic getting there."

As well as Gary strapping in to Panic the Bug Jam entry list has been further enhanced
with the addition of Kevin Kent in the West Ten Motorsport Fuel FC. You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

For more details about JT Construction UK Top Sportsman E-Mail Paul Marston at
pmdragracing@gmail.com, call 07831 650230,
or search for UK Top Sportsman on Facebook.

Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the MSA Pro Modified entry list for the Mopar EuroNationals,
which you can check out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Today (Friday) is the official closing date for MSA Pro Modified at the Mopar EuroNationals after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

500% for Panda... we can do it.7th July: On behalf of herself, Lizz Charman and Suze Morris SPRC Pit Marshal Caroline Boncey has been in touch
to ask Eurodragster.com readers to help to obliterate the target set for a fund set up in memory of late safety crew member Ben 'Panda'
Butler.

As you can see at right, Panda's partner Natalie set up a Just Giving account in his memory to benefit Santa Pod Raceway's
Medical Centre, of whose services Ben was known to avail himself occasionally. Natalie set a target of £200 which was easily
beaten; at time of writing the fund has reached £795 or 395%. We reckon that £1000 or 500% is achievable in such a
good cause.

In addition Oscar, Lizz and Suze asked us to thank all of the racers and crew who had their photos taken with the two toy pandas at the SPRC
Summernationals, and to Nigel Hale for taking them on the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Cruise. "It meant a lot to us all, and especially
to Natalie", they say. You can check out the Panda Album by
clicking
here.

Once more, Santa Pod will resound to a super mix of old style drag bikes in the NSA Shootout during an action-packed weekend. One always hopes to see some
new additions to the mix, and once again we should get to see just that. Headlining the entries will be no less than six of the double-engined bikes, led as always
by John Hobbs on The Hobbit. Jeff Byne has been busy freshening up his double Triumph; while Gary Norman has been beavering away with the help of
the Baskerville family to really improve both show and go aspects of not one, but two doubles to run over the weekend!

One of the most unusual bikes ever built is Drag Waye, which is powered by a blown VW car engine. Shown before at Dragstalgia, the aim for restorer and
rider Terry Homan is to take the bike up the strip this year. With similar styling to a slingshot dragster this former World Record holder will be something to watch.
Terry is a glutton for punishment, as he is also working flat out to bring another bike back to the track, which I remember first watching in 1967. Dennis Allen's Ram
Rod was a very successful supercharged Triumph of the period, and is still owned by Dennis. Both bikes will be welcome additions to the original machinery
which forms the majority of the NSA class at this event. Definitely a pair of entries that I am really looking forward to seeing in action once again. The Methamon
sidecar outfit, which predates the Drag Fests, will again be piloted by Chris Illman, along with an original passenger in the form of Sheelagh Neal. It is especially good
to see Pip Higham back out again this year, after an unfortunate off in 2016 when a wheel adjuster broke on the Orient Express.

I am pleased to announce that we will have representatives from both Holland and Sweden at the event. Jan Honee will surely get that elusive eight-second run
on his 500 Jawa this time, while Björn Eriksson is bringing over his recreation of a 70s style Harley to run. They will add to the diversity of engines which
were such a feature back in the early days of the sport.

An additional group has been included by event organiser James Forster this time around in the form of a Nostalgia Pro Stock class, which is a welcome move.
It was the class which brought the late Brian Johnson to the fore, before he embarked on his hugely successful Top Fuel Bike career. Nick Pepper has previously
run with the NSA group, but this year should have four or five other Pro Stock Bikes to have a go against.

In the Historic Marquee, I always try to attract something different to display. This year we will be able to enjoy one of my all time favourite bikes. Mick Hand's
little twin cylinder Honda was the noisiest bike you were ever likely to hear on a drag strip, and mighty quick. Justin Newell will be out on track once again on
his neat Hagon Weslake Triumph, while also showing the restoration progress on the Honda which is now in his possession. The aim is to have it running once
again, initially in original 250 cc form - so Dragstalgia 2018 it is then, Justin! Joining the Honda will be the double Triumph of Kev Fields, along with an interesting
exhibit which has not seen the light of day since 1974!

I can't wait for the event to start. As a bike and car enthusiast of a certain age myself, I'm looking forward to catching up with a lot of old friends, and taking in all
the action at another brilliant weekend of Dragstalgia.

Smax rocks Jersey.6th July: Having beaten Tony Schumacher in E1 at the NHRA New England Nationals this becoming the first Englishman
to win an NHRA Top Fuel round in forty years, ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith and the Leverich family
headed for Englishtown
although Smax made a side trip on the way:

After Epping I worked for two days then got up early on Wednesday morning to join Jake (our bottom end guy) to drive to New Jersey
to see the Iron Maiden concert. We had ten backstage passes so I took five of Scott Palmer's crew as they had done nothing but help
us, and Shockwave's Lee Webb who was to help us over the weekend. It's a shame that Aidan couldn't make it due to work
commitments after being away at Epping. It was cool driving down Martin Luther King Boulevard then pre-drinks at the hotel, then we
headed to the venue for the sold out concert! Security took us to the party room for free drinks and we met lead guitarist Adrian
and few a others before going to our very good seats for the show. The place was rocking and an excellent visual and light show. We
then went to pub across the road and met Ron Capps and couple of the Schumacher team for drinks - a great night.

Up early the next morning for brekky and a short drive to Englishtown to work on car as we had thrown it together for second round
(which we missed) at Epping. We wanted to go through it all properly. Jake repaired the blower cover and our two piece intake and I
fixed up the throttle cable and clutch linkage whilst Gary and Dan did the heads and stands. Then we went to the Texas Steakhouse
and back to the room for a good sleep.

Next morning up early for brekky and back for more work on the car to get ready for Q1 at 4:30. We fired up and did our mind blowing
two nitro whacks of the throttle and watched everyone lose their minds! We towed down and faced Shawn Langdon, did a good burnout and
Lee backed me up perfectly but by the time I was pre-staged motor didn't normal. I launched to a lazy sixty foot then it picked up but
felt like it nosed over so I lifted, but again the throttle held open for a second, obviously wounding the motor. Still we qualified
number eight and beat Shawn with a 4.92 at a slowing 162 mph.

Back in the pits all was revealed. We had put on different stands, rockers and pushrods but four pushrods had mismatches with the
rocker adjusters which destroyed them and as soon as it dropped a cylinder it mixed up and torched a head gasket and head. The
block was ok but it pulled on the main studs and damaged a cap where the side bolt goes in and hurt the cam, so we decided to put our
last block in albeit it was just bare. We worked hard all day Saturday to get ready for E1 on sunday morning then left the track after
a pint at Scott Palmer's pit!

Up early again but the fire-up curfew was 10:00. We discovered that the blow-up against Tony Schumacher had pulled the thread inserts
in the blower so the front of the injector was lifting causing air to get in when I lifted throttle. So we had a mad thrash to repair
but at least we found the sticking throttle issue - phew! This happened at exactly the same time at the same race last year and I faced
Steve Torrence in E1 too... weird!

Two nitro whacks later we were ready to run three seconds at 300 mph. I dashed off to the driver introduction and got a huge cheer for
being #13 qualifier!

We got ready to race our friend Steve Torrence but Gary reminded me that if we were getting beaten then shut off as we don't get anything
for first round loser and if we blow up and oil the track it's a $4000 fine this time. Gary was right of course but as a driver I was bummed.
Stevo shot off to a 3.83 so I lifted before the eighth to a 4.83/177 but the car was perfect, no damage, and left on eight cylinders so we
had a good car for the Nitro Nats in Toronto last weekend.

Smax will be in touch about the Nitro Nats very shortly.

Web site updates.6th July: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted two FHRA Nitro Nationals reports on the Autosport.nl web site.
As usual there is a race report which you can check out by
clicking here
and a report of "Other things I saw" which you can check out by
clicking here.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the Saturday of the Street Drags Public Track Day
at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

Event entry update.4th July: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd July (RWYB Friday 21st and until 15:00 Saturday). You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the MSA Pro Modified entry list for the Mopar EuroNationals, which
takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 28th-30th July. You can check out the Mopar EuroNationals Pro Mod entry by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

This Friday (7th) is the official closing date for the Mopar EuroNationals after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

An Anniversary to remember.4th July: Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar writes that the class' 25th Anniversary party took place
at the recent NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Colin is a self-contained party, but on this occasion a large number of others
were permitted to play:

The word went out to all past, present and future people engaged with Outlaw Anglia to come along and enjoy what is one of the best classes in drag racing.
Most of us made the effort to get to the track Thursday evening and we set about making a large area for the party. With Simon Barlow's large
awning and a number of large party tents it was quite a spectacle when it was all pulled together.

Up and about early on Friday, not forgetting why we were there: to race in Outlaw Anglia. We made sure that those who would be racing on Saturday had
their cars all ready to go, but the guys with street-legal cars were taking advantage of the time and venue to take part in the Ford Pop Shootout, which was
the root of the class and how it all began twenty five years ago.

It was an early morning cruise into Stratford upon Avon with a good eight-car field, all sounding strong but in full street trim with the exception of a few wheelie
bars sticking out: Mark Bracking in OA70, Barry Woodford in his alternative but beautiful blue Pop pick-up, Ian Tweddle in OA95, Lee Taylor in OA98, Gary
Hill in OA107, Danny Wilson in OA 108 and finally Ronnie Mercer in OA 109. Everyone went out and everybody returned safe and sound. The Shootout started
at midday and the two fastest cars would race each other on Saturday on a heads-up, first to the finish win. The bragging rights went Ian Tweddle who won with
Lee Taylor a close second. Jerry Cookson of SCR had even organised some medals which was a very nice touch. All of the boys had chipped in a tenner with the
winner getting the prize fund and in true OA style Ian gave all his winnings to the Al's Gasser fund which was a great gesture I thought (Hear, hear - Ed).

By this time the general layout for the party was in place including speakers that were twice my height and all the hardware you need to entertain five thousand people,
a big thanks to Pete Rollinson for his efforts. Needless to say we... well the royal we, that's Ginner and myself, decided to have a test run on Friday night to ensure that
the sound system was man enough for the big party. DJ Ginner and DJ Millar hit the decks. Serck Motorsports Graham Smith and his good lady Rachael had
unfortunately parked nearby in their motorhome and in the morning they informed us that both his plates and his teeth could be heard rattling into the early hours.
Of course I think he was exaggerating.

Roll on Saturday and everyone was buzzing for a great day's racing with a ninteen-car field, as Barry Woodford had unfortunately damaged a piston and was unable to run.
We had a lot of great racing with a big surge in new PBs both in ET and speed - all of the racing information can be found on the race report for the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals
in the News section of the Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia web site at www.outlawanglia.co.uk.

After the racing we set up ready for the big party. The food was collected form Lee Hillier, a local butcher in Stratford Upon Avon whom we must thank for fantastic-quality
home-made food. Lee Taylor was ready with two huge coal barbecues and had no idea he would be cooking for most of the night as the queue just never seemed to go down.
We must have fed at least 250 or more... I had no idea that Outlaw Anglia was this big or maybe we just fed the whole of Shakey (Can I take a wild stab in the dark - Ed).
Al's Gasser's bucket was placed at the end of the food table and instead of paying for anything we asked those attending if they could make a donation to Al's fund and
this was done very generously. I have to thank everybody for this.

The cakes were fabulous as well. Raych made a fantastic large Outlaw Anglia cake and lots of individual Outlaw Anglia cup cakes. There was also a cake made in the form of
Al's Gasser, unfortunately I never found out who made it. We even had Outlaw Anglia chocolate biscuits and Outlaw Anglia lollipops thanks to the Woodford family.

Once everybody was fed and watered we fired up the music, initially quietly to get people's taste buds going and then slowly cranked up the sounds, Peter Rollinson's boy Jake
was on the decks and doing a great job. Then we had a real treat for everybody: Eleanor Sideway came on stage and sang for us for around an hour, and for those who have
never heard her before she is truly fantastic, thank you Eleanor. Back on the decks and by this time the party was in full swing and it was getting hard to get a space far less a seat.
The kids had an area to allow them to play and they enjoyed every minute with young Jake Bracking winning the prize for the most autographs collected on the Saturday, well done
Jake! With the help pof all fo the kids young Freddie headed up a collection fund to sell stickers he had collected and raffled off some prizes with all the proceeds given to Al
O'Connor who was very much touched by this kind gesture. As expected the party went on into the small hours but as the Outlaw Anglia drivers were up early we were all tucked
up before midnight, honest (Bzzz! Bullshit - Ed).

All in all the party was a great success and yet another demonstration of how the drag racing family get together and put on such a fantastic event for everyone to share and enjoy.
I've been asked to do the next Twenty Five Year party in 2042. It's long enough away to allow me to forget all the stuff you have to do!

Sunday was a good day with great racing and fantastic burnouts and close heads-up racing from all in what is the spectacle of Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia drag racing.

It was very unfortunate that we ran out of time and couldn't fully finish the meeting but that's what makes racing. It was a great meeting with no major incidents, which is what
everybody at the track wants, with the exception of Rob Slater trying to cut down most of the grass at the top end of the track. We were all glad to hear that Andy Bond is
on the mend and we all wish him a speedy return.

The special one-off Outlaw Anglia 25th Anniversary T-Shirts and hoodies were available at the Nostalgia Nationals. We are trying to ensure that everyone has one; we still
have some more and we will have these available at Dragstalgia, which is the next Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia event. With a stunning twenty one-car Outlaw Anglia field
we are all looking forward to Dragstalgia and one thing is for sure: we will put on a show which can only be delivered by everyone involved with Outlaw Anglia.

Guess the outcome...4th July: Nigel Taylor writes that Arthur Bonner will be back in the seat of the Detroit Spinner
at Dragstalgia, one week before his 76th birthday, and that there will also be a special guest driver behind the wheel of the
Prefect for one run:

Arthur is thriving on the thought of the Prefect, now running its 555ci Dart motor, taking to the quarter at such an iconic
meeting. The Spinner, originally built in the 1970s, is still running its rare Fairbanks gearbox, MGB front suspension,
1½ ton steel body, nine-inch Ford rear end with 4:88 gearing, and its original ECA 46 race number!

For the second run on Saturday the Spinner will be handed over to Andy Frost, who is used to going fast in Red Victor
3 with all its stability and technology, but how will he cope with the shed-built Prefect?

The Detroit Spinner Racing Facebook page is open
to anyone who wants to predict what time and speed Frosty will run. Obviously we will always encourage you to go onto the Red
Victor 3 page, donate to the RV3 team and take a guess at the time and speed which Andy is likely to run in an unknown
car.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors who have made this possible!

Swift snippets.4th July: With four weeks to go before the SPRC / BDRC / Hockenheimring team start to prep the Rico
Anthes Quarter Mile for this year's NitrOlympx, a reminder that
a crew ticket worth €60 is on offer for each used slick which racers donate to the NitrOlympX organisers. All
you need to do is to inform the team in the Signing On office and your slick(s) will be picked up from your pit and exchanged
for a crew ticket.

Many thanks to Geoff Stilwell for forwarding this picture of Le Mans winner Johnny Adams trying out the Rat Trap
Fuel Altered for size under the gaze of owner and driver Ron Hope at the weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Staying with Nostalgia and back to Dragstalgia and Eurodragster.com will be announcing this year's inductees to the British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame at 12:00 midday next Friday (12th), coinciding with the scheduled start of the RWYB at
Dragstalgia. Longtime readers will recognise a change from the midnight Friday / Saturday announcement of previous years.

Thanks to our good buddy Steve Moxley for letting us know that his and wife Julie's FIA / FIM Main Event report is now available
on the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk, and
that he also has an APIRA Springspeed Nationals feature now showing in the July 2017 issue of Custom Car magazine.

We have two birthdays today. First up, a Happy Birthday and hugs to Santa Pod Racers Club official Kathy Taylor.
Have a lovely day Kathy. Happy Birthday also to six-second street-legal racer Andy Frost. Have a great day Frosty.

Also on the subject of birthdays we would like to wish all of our friends and readers in the USA a Happy 4th July. Have
a great day guys.

Gun for hire.4th July: Top Fuel Dragster tuner and professional engineer Eddie Corr tells us that the drag racing bug
is niggling away at him again and that he is available for work for race teams whatever they run:

Within the drag racing world I tuned Top Fuel cars for almost twenty years, including two European Championships with Carter
Motorsport and a third with Lex Joon. I tuned the joint first car to 300 mph in Europe and a few European records along the way.
I also have NHRA experience and tuned the car which beat Tony Schumacher in Round 1 of Chicago in 2009.

Outside drag racing I have also worked in the World Rally Championship and Formula 1 working for Porsche, Lotus, Williams and
Prodrive. With extensive engine and chassis experience I can turn my hand to anything from normally-aspirated petrol engines
to turbocharged or supercharged engines, and any oxygenated fuels or additives. I also have experience of chassis tuning and
motorcycles.

My experience includes everything from training and leading a crew to the actual building, commissioning, testing, and race
tuning of the car. Basically I can bring something to any team, no matter how large or small. Rates are negotiable depending
on programme.

If you are interested then please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com
and we will put you in touch with Eddie.

Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for forwarding us the post-FHRA Nitro Nationals standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships.
You can take a look at the FIA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored
Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking
on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Congratulations also to Dave Wiggins who won the inaugural Gearhead Garage No Prep Nationals at North Weald in a close race with
Chris Skinner over an untimed eighth (right). The guaranteed £1000 prize money was increased to £1125 to the winner and
£225 to the runner-up courtesy of an additional £250 posted by Jeff and Belinda Bull of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Jeff Bull Race Engines.

Congratulations also to Hussain Cetin and Bobby Semple who won North Weald's own Quick 8 FWD and Quick 8 Bike eliminations.

You can check out our No Prep Nationals report and No Prep Nationals and Test and Tune galleries, which are presented in association with
John Woolfe Racing and
which you can check out by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Swift snippets.2nd July: Kerry and Jacques Jeyes asked to add their own good wishes to our own love and hugs to Podington
Pea Diana Macrae whose birthday it is today. Hope you are having a lovely day DD.

Waiting for parts, waiting for the new workshop to finished, waiting for the new workshop's heating system to be installed,
waiting for the machine shop, waiting in the pits to be called, waiting in the lanes during an oildown, waiting in the motorhome
for the rain to stop, hurrying up and then waiting... and then there is waiting for a Stocker to be finished.

As I write I'm on the ferry from Kapelskär to Naantali, on route for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, and I'm waiting for the
sea journey to be over. Of course it seems that the traffic between Sweden and Finland has increased of late, so I couldn't
get on the Tuesday ferry and had to book for the Monday; this means that we will be in Finland on Monday night and will have
to wait until Wednesday, somewhere, before we are allowed in the pits at the track.

If you are waiting for something at the moment perhaps you can kill some time reading my piece about waiting.

The season started abruptly for us: no sooner had we settled down in the new workshop than we started taking apart Rick's two
Super Stock engines, hoping to be able to make one out of two. The first one, a 400ci SBC, was built by Rick Watters with heads
prepared by Gary Hettler, and as a combination had many problems. We bought it with much hope and expectations as it was owned
by the then GT/CA record holder, Byron Setters. Nobody bothered to tell us that it was a combination that he never managed to
get to work well and that he bought it for a song. We were very disappointed as we started to learn the ropes of legal Super
Stock engine building. Although in the GT class you are allowed to use an engine from a different model year than your car, the
heads must be the originals which came with the engine in that year. In other words, if you use a 1975 Chevy Small Block, you
must use the original iron heads which were used on that engine in 1975, and if by an unfortunate set of circumstances that
particular engine came with a Rochester Quadrajet, that's the carburettor you have to use. Period.

We managed to tune the Quadrajet to the best of our abilities and in fact the much-maligned carb revealed much more race
attitude than it is credited for, and the heads made a fair amount of power, but they leaked. They leaked because they are old,
they are porous, and they are carved to a millimetre of the water passages to try and extract as much power as humanly possible
within the strict rules of Super Stock - this is NHRA Super Stock, not the UK version which shares the name but none of the rules.
The size of the valves must be stock, the volumes must be stock. NHRA tech will measure the volume of the combustion chambers,
the intake ports and the exhaust ports, and all of them must be the same as the stock heads would have been. So for every ounce
of material removed from one place, some material must be reapplied somewhere else. The wizardry consists in knowing where to
remove and where to apply to make the heads flow to the best efficiency. However, even if you obtain the best possible result,
if your heads leak and you spend most of your time repairing them, you are not going to go rounds. We repaired them with gas tank
sealer and JB Weld and they leaked again after the first season, so we sent them back to the States, they were repaired and they
leaked after a couple of meetings, we had them repaired in England with a super-duper indestructible ceramic coating, and they
leaked again after a few meetings more.

In between repairs we managed a best of 0.56 under index, which normally places us around twenty fifth or twenty sixth position
in qualifying, and of course we wanted more.

This is a real problem for many racers who use this combination, not just us; so many complained to NHRA that perhaps replacement
heads should be allowed. This is indeed allowed in some classes, normally in Super Stock only, and it means that you can use any
within a list of equal performance aftermarket heads which NHRA have specifically approved for your combination.
NHRA still have not issued any such list for the 1975 400ci SBC, but they made a concession: they re-rated the combination at 319 hp,
down from 324... big deal. In plain speak, this means that the minimum weight for our combination went down from 3086 lbs to 3041 lbs.

In the meantime we had acquired a second engine, another 400ci SBC built by John Gulius which at least this time came quite cheap and
together with two carburettors, a torque converter and a Scott McClay transmission. We dropped it in last year and went racing, leaving
the leaking heads behind. Unfortunately this second engine made a bit less power than the first and we suspected that the first block
may have been a better one. The quest for power with these engines resembles trying to get blood out of a stone, but it is amazing to
open one up and find that the friction is so low that the rotating assembly almost turns if you blow down one cylinder. Low tension rings,
magic cylinder honing and tweaking the oil rings, as well as seriously low weight pistons contribute to the ease of rotation, preserving
your horse power and allowing it to travel further down the drive train to your rear end. The biggest restriction to this are the fierce
valve springs, which are needed to keep in check the aggressive cam profiles which are thankfully allowed. We therefore thought that perhaps
using the first block with the non leaking (yet!) second heads might be a step in the right direction, and this we proceeded to do as soon
as we had a viable workshop.

We measured very carefully and established that there was plenty of piston to valve clearance and that we could use the same intake, we
had the block re-honed by local wizard Raymond Karlsson, got a set of bearings, a rebuild kit, and put it together just in time to leave
for the Main Event with a couple of days to spare, as we intended to put it through its paces at the Williams Brothers' new dyno. The day
at the dyno was very fruitful, and with some tuning, by the end of the day, we managed to get over 600 hp. Sadly the performance at the
track did not match our expectations, the track was tricky and the tyres past their best, and the only saving grace was that Rick managed
to go two rounds before the rain stopped play.

We had to wait (!) until the Tierp Internationals before we could tweak the engine to give us a bit more, and the qualifying runs there
confirmed that horsepower is not all of the story when you are chasing ET. Retarding the cam timing had indeed improved peak HP, but
although it looked like the torque sacrificed in the process was minimal and that we certainly did not need more at the launch, when
we tried advancing it the ET immediately responded, showing that as well as improving max torque the four degrees' advance seemed to
improve mid range, with the top end staying almost unchanged. However we are still only 0.50 under index (well in fact 0.4982 under)
so we still have to match the previous performance, never mind improving.

We are now going to do some more testing and tweaking at Alastaro and will hopefully find a little more power, but the future of Rick's
Super Stock racing might change if we finally decide that it's just too hard to make this work with the current NHRA rating and perhaps
we should go to a more competitive combination. Meanwhile we wait... for my car to be finished. An ex-Pro ET seasoned bracket car, but
which stayed as faithful as possible to her Stocker stance, the 1970 Camaro was always a prime candidate for the jump up to NHRA Stock.
The stock chassis with nine inch tyres and Caltracs, Small Block and GM ten bolt rear has gone a best of 9.54 seconds on the quarter
mile with a 1.28 sixty foot, not bad for an old girl weighing 3150 lbs despite the fibreglass doors, front fenders and hood. However
Williams Brothers Racing have done a complete frame off restoration and the car should be ready... sometime in the future... for her
Stock debut.

Nothing left to do but wait, I guess, before I can talk about her new personality. But it's OK, I am a drag racer. I have a lot of
experience of waiting...

Walters' season so far.1st July: Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor
Peter Walters has been in touch with a report of his first two outings in the
Gold RV / PWRD / RW Custom Paint Super Pro ET dragster:

After a not very successful 2016, with many engine breakages and transmission issues, Walters Motorsport decided to park their blown Small Block dragster for the 2017
season to rebuild the car and change the engine combination to a big block Chevy. The original plan was for Pete's sister Holley to make her racing début driving
the family's Mustang in Sportsman ET. Then to make the season even more fun-filled, Derek Flynn of Gold RV, long time supporter of Pete's racing, stepped up and offered
Pete the chance to drive his six-second dragster. Due to Derek spending most of the year so far in a hospital gown, we unfortunately didn't make the Festival of Power, but
we are glad he is back to full health now! We agreed to miss the Springspeed Nationals and début at the FIA Main Event in May.

Thursday testing was successful, with the new engine combination running well. We had a couple of twitchy half passes but the early numbers looked good, so we were
ready for Friday's qualifying. Back to launching off idle and footbrake, Pete's sixteen years of experience came into effect and he ripped off a perfect 0.0000 Reaction Time
to take the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award. After a day's qualifying we ended up in twenty fourth qualifying position running a 7.166 on a 7.10 dial-in.

Saturday didn't quite go to plan. After damaging various parts in the transmission and zinging the motor, we found a few valvetrain issues Saturday night. We sat down and
discussed whether to call it a day or to drive back to Hampshire to get spare parts. Pete's longtime crewman Mick Slocombe stepped up and took the six-hour round-trip with
Derek's wife Fiona, returning at gone one in the morning!

We woke up early Sunday morning and got to work on changing the parts, firing the motor just a few minutes before we were called. "Derek, Dad (Richard), Mick and Chris,
really pulled all the stops out and worked amazingly together to get it finished, I couldn't have been more proud", said Pete. We pulled down to the line and after Derek checked
the lanes he asked Rich to rub the six off leaving a 7.10 on the wing. The car launched hard and went straight down the groove to give us an incredible 7.1000 run to go into the
unassailable #1 qualifying position. "When the crew gave me the ticket it was easily one of my career highlights, I'm not one for words anyway, but I was speechless when reading
it", said Pete.

We went into eliminations as the #1 qualifier, and matched up with Mick Howling in Paul Marston's dragster. We dialled 7.16, Pete pulled his usual 0.02 light and caught Mick,
backed off the throttle, then dabbed it again, but too much... 7.148 breakout, our weekend was done! We came away from the Main Event happy, the car worked well and the
team worked even better!

The SPRC Summernationals soon came around, and we were raring to go. A few adjustments to the tune and we were aiming for 6.9s, but a heavy headwind put the sixes
on hold for now. Our three runs on Saturday resulted in a 7.064, 7.085 and a 7.069, we ended up in #2 spot, 0.009 off the dial-in. The weekend's Super Pro ET Group special
award was for best package in qualifying. On the final run Pete pulled a 0.016 light, coupled with 0.009 off the dial to leave us with a 0.025 package taking the big trophy and
the prize money.

Eliminations came round quickly Sunday morning and we were paired with Laura Turburville. Pete tree'd Laura with a 0.020 to her 0.094, caught at the top end, lifted (properly
this time!) and ran a 7.131 on a 7.06 to take the win. A Round 2 bye left us in the quarter finals with four other ex-Junior Dragster racers. We faced Brad Jackson in the Lucas
Oil dragster, but Pete threw it all away, leaving too soon by 0.04, so our weekend was done.

We are hoping for a top ten finish this year, and two good points hauls have helped. The next event for the dragster will be the FIA European Finals where we hope to go some
rounds, and run some six-second passes.

The Walters Motorsport Mustang had a lot of problems at the first three events, but after finally finding the issue it was super consistent at the Summernationals, with Holley
running between 17.99 and 18.06 all weekend. A first round win against the 2016 Champ and #1 qualifier Andy Dibley gave her some confidence. A poor light (not helped by
Pete's advice) and a 0.003 breakout in the second round put us on the trailer, but fun was still had by all. Pete will be piloting the family Mustang at the Bug Jam and Holley
will be returning to the seat at the Open Sport Nationals in August.

Pete would like to thank Derek and Fiona of Gold RV, Peter Walters Race Design and Rich Walters Custom Paint for the support this season, as well as the whole team
for their continued efforts.

Just as we coded and posted this news item it became Pete's birthday so a big Happy Birthday Pete, have a great day.

Gasserly love.1st July: Nick Brooke-Langham writes that there was thrilling conclusion to Round 2 of the Gasser Circus Showdown
on Sunday when brothers Brian and John Gibson brought their cars to the line at the Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway:

Brian and John had occupied opposite sides of the ladder. John and his' 55 Chevy Crowd Pleaser took the semi-final win over Sean Milsom and his
nine-second Morris Van Ain't Misbehavin', Sean lighting the red bulb having made it to the semi without the normal aid of his transbrake. Brian in his
Identity Crisis Dodge took his win in the semi-final by the narrowest of margins with an 0.126 win over #1 qualifier Nervous Nick, i.e. me, and my Austin
Devon Nogbad The Bad.

The final looked set to be just as close, and this was even more assured when the brothers decided to place identical 11.19 dial-ins on their back windows.
Both went into their burnouts with Brian staying in his a little bit longer ensuring that he not only got his tyres nice and sticky, but also that he created a shroud
of tyre smoke which encircled his car as it edged into pre-stage.

The brothers left together both leaving behind green lights, with the wheels on John's '55 scrabbling in the air as he shifted into second. The brothers stayed
side-by-side all the way down the quarter mile with everyone in the stands, like the siblings, focused on the finish line. As they crossed the stripe the win light
glowed bright in Brian's lane, and the boards showed that John had broken out with an 11.14. The final was a fitting way to conclude what had been a brilliant
weekend.

A huge Thank You to our sponsors the National Street Rod Association and Speedking, and to the guys and girls at Shakey who made the weekend possible and
kept all the racers safe.

Roll on Round 3 at Dragstalgia, when the Gasser Circus take on Gassers from Sweden.

Swift snippets.1st July: Many thanks to Donna Finnegan of Santa Pod Raceway
for forwarding us a couple more pictures from the Goodwood Festival of Speed including a shot of Donna herself with SPR colleagues
David Warren, Robin Jackson and Will Thompson, and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy
Robinson with his Pro Modified Camaro on the stand of his sponsor NGK Spark Plugs.

Robin Jackson tells us that the Summer 2017 issue of the Motor Sports Association's quarterly MSA Magazine features Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer
Mark Todd as the subject of its Weekend Warrior column, illustrated with a striking photograph by Matt Woods.

Rene Martin asked us to say a big Happy 35th Birthday to photographer David Beitler of Speedseekers. We are very happy to do so, have a great day David.

Further to Wednesday's news item, our good friend Alan Currans tells us that he has posted an update to Keith Lee's Blog
about the writing of his book on Dennis Priddle. You can take a look at
wwwtheaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

Also updating a Blog is Liam Lodge who has decided to add posts about the golden era of each class in the FIA European Championships to his site at
liam66europeandragracing.wordpress.com. Liam's first Golden
Era post is about Top Methanol Funny Car in the early 2000s.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from Saturday of the Yanks Weekend / Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare
County Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

K&N Filters back the Bennetts.1st July: Luke Bennett writes that as sponsors of Bennett Racing's blown-alcohol operation since 2005 K&N Filters
are no strangers to the drag racing scene, so when the team approached them about changing from their outdated conventional panel style oil filters
K&N Filters jumped at the chance to not only supply but to make sure it was the correct filter for this harsh environment:

And so began many conversations to ascertain which style of filter would be right for two supercharged Chevrolet-powered, methanol-burning altereds
with a combined horsepower of around 5,000. Factors which K&N needed to consider were:

Filter material

Flow rating

Spin on or inline

Micron size

Burst strength

Overall size

Weight

We were very keen to reduce service time between rounds and the panel type we currently use requires the removal of four 9/16" nuts then the
disassembly, cleaning and refitting of the filter. It desn't sound much but when time is precious every minute counts. In the end, we all agreed on the
HP-3001 spin on filter which at just under six inches
will give us more actual filter volume over the existing set-up and couldn't be faster to remove! Literally a one-inch exposed nut designed for easy oil
filter removal, not only this but there is the option to add a lock wire if needed. Another key factor was weight; we're actually saving two pounds over
the old system. Here are some key features:

Provides over 550 psi hydrostatic burst strength

Captures contaminants as small as 10 microns

Uses a resin-impregnated filter media to provide maximum filtering and an inner core to lend extra structural support to the filter, preventing filter collapse

Industry standard 3/4-16 inch thread size

Developed for demanding race applications

Compatible with our Ravenol Lubricants 50wt oil

It was fantastic to rely on the many years of knowledge which K&N Filters possess and to trust their advice and recommendations totally. We're delighted to
be supported by such a great company and cannot wait to race at Santa Pod Raceway and Shakespeare County Raceway.

Lindtek join VP distributors.1st July: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels has
announced a new partnership making Lindtek.dk APS its newest distributor for the
European market. Based in Østbirk, Denmark, Lindtek will distribute VP's full line of race fuel blends throughout Denmark, with
plans to expand distribution to northern Germany later this year.

"We're excited to partner with Tom Lindstrøm Petersen and his team at Lindtek" said Marc Wesler, International Regional Manager for VP.
"Besides operating a successful and well-respected business, Tom and his family have been involved in racing for many years. In fact, at the
third round of the Danish Rally Championships recently Lindtek fuelled the winner of the Historic class with VP's R5 race fuel. They truly
know motorsports, and we anticipate they'll provide a big boost to our European business, particularly in the rally, motocross and vintage
racing markets."

"After a bad experience with race fuel sales in the past, we became aware of VP Racing Fuels and were impressed with its reputation, quality
and breadth of its product line" said Tom Lindstrøm Petersen, Owner and CEO of Lindtel. "We believe it's a great fit for our business
and we look forward to working with VP for many years to come."

More information about Lindtek and its inventory of VP Racing Fuels products is available online at
www.lindtek.dk. More information about VP Racing Fuels is available at
vpracingfuels.com.

You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Today (Friday) is the official closing date for Bug Jam after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Drag racing does Goodwood.30th June: Many thanks to Donna Finnegan of Santa
Pod Raceway for sending us pictures of the drag racing presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

"Santa Pod have their promotional dragster and Junior Dragster on display", says Donna. "The National Motor Museum have Flux
Capacitor on display. NGK have a few vehicles including Andy Robinson's and Lee Cohen's cars. And obviously Ron Hope and Rat
Trap are here.

"Robin Jackson, Dave Warren, Will Thompson Jr and I are here for all days on the Santa Pod stand (302)."

Editor's note.30th June: Astute readers have noticed a slowdown in the usual work rate at Eurodragster.com HQ in
recent days. This is due to consecutive intense weekends at Tierp Arena and Santa Pod Raceway interspersed with unusually
intense (Albeit rewarding - Ed) crust-earning. To be frank, Your News Editor is utterly shagged out. The news backlog
will however be dealt with on the next news update, currently due this evening (Friday). Please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.

The harnesses concerned carry fake SFI labels; details of how to identify a fake label are included in the Notice (PDF format)
which you can check out by clicking here.

Bug Jam entry update.28th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd July (RWYB Friday 21st and until 15:00 Saturday).

You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

This Friday (30th) is the official closing date for Bug Jam after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

SPRC prize money, Comp update.28th June:Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch
with two important updates for racers:

Following the curtailments of the FIA / FIM Main Event and SPRC Summernationals, SPRC will be paying out double prize money
at the FIA / FIM European Finals and UK National Finals in those classes which contested the curtailed events.

Following Comp Eliminator eliminations at the weekend's SPRC Summernationals, the Super Modified Comp Eliminator Index
has been altered to 7.99 seconds.

If you have any queries about either the prize money or the Comp Eliminator index then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625
(outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

NSRA Nostalgia Nationals galleries.28th June: Many thanks to Callum Pudge who signed up to photograph for Eurodragster.com at the weekend's
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.

Callum provided us with 300 great pictures which are presented in association with John
Woolfe Racing and which you can check out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Our good buddy Alan Currans has also updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with shots of Sunday's action at
the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. As ever you can check out the latest updates via What's New at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

SPRC Summernationals snippets.28th June: Many thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from SPRC Summernationals,
which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the
left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Augy Harrison writes with some not-so-good news from the weekend. "During Saturday's qualifying, whilst we were away from the pits in the fire-up road, our caravan
(unlocked) was entered by someone who removed and stole my wallet from my jeans", says Augy. "It contained cash, credit cards and my driving licence. We made the racers pitted around us aware
of what had happened and later discovered that just a few yards away Paul Hambidge's wife had a handbag containing cash removed from their unlocked caravan. Hopefully these were the only two
incidents but I suspect they may not be. Anyone else who was the victim of a similar crime at the weekend should contact Bedfordshire Police (dial 101), and a reminder to everyone to secure valuables
especially when your pit areas are left unattended."

Our good friend Robin Jackson tells us that a report of the weekend's Pro Modified action is now available on the official MSA British Drag Racing Championship web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.

Ian Hart writes that whilst we were all watching Junior Dragster racer Harley Jay Darby clock a 0.0000 Reaction Time and win the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award, something exciting
was also happening to his son Ruaridh Hart. "We were a little off dial because Ruaridh was trying to put his steering wheel back on!", says Ian. "It came off at the hit and he had it back on by about 120 feet. I
wonder if any photographer captured it? If they did then I would willingly pay for the picture". If you have any pictures of Ruaridh's Whit Bazemore moment then you can contact him at
hartwrite@btinternet.com.

Jon McGarrigle and Crew Chief Karen, who race a Hyundai i20 in Sportsman ET, asked us to say a big Thank You to all of the Sportsman and other racers for all their help and support
at the weekend. "Special thanks go to Elaine Hancock (Left Bristol - Ed) and Crew Chief Trish; all the Captain Caveman Team; Adam Charnley and his mum Anne; all the team at Clueless Racing
and also Jon Crawford", they say. "You all made us so welcome and part of the Sportsman family! We are giving a talk on drag racing for the Boys Brigade at our church this week and we asked on Facebook
if anyone could lend us some equipment to show the lads - so a big Thank You goes to Andy Dibley and Dave Grundy for their kindness and help. We also want to take this opportunity to wish Andy
Bond a full and speedy recovery."

Priddle's birthday banner day.28th June: Keith Lee has been in touch to wish a very Happy Birthday for today (Wendesday) to the subject of the book on which he is working: Mister Six himself, International and
British Drag Racing Halls of Fame member Dennis Priddle.

"I am pleased to say that, with Annie's help, work on the book Mr. Six - The Story of a Drag Racing Legend, Dennis Priddle is progressing well", says Keith. "I have spent many hours with Dennis since the start
of this project, and it is proving to be a fascinating journey. Many of those closely associated with Dennis over the years have also been interviewed, with John Woolfe Racing boss Dave Riswick being the latest, and
very important, contributor.

"Good news is that Darren West of Power Race Graphics will be involved in designing the book cover, which will ensure a very professional look
to it, as I am a big fan of his work. Darren has already produced a banner for the Facebook group which I have just started off
today, and which I hope will become a good place to discuss Dennis Priddle's involvement in the sport, and to share pictures and anecdotes.

"There will be an update to the Book Blog on The Acceleration Archive imminently, having promised it to Alan Currans
when I saw him at the Nostalgia Nationals on Sunday."

Swift snippets.28th June: This weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro, which starts tomorrow, will be webcast free on Livestream courtesy
of the Finnish Hot Rod Association. You will be able to tune in at www.livestream.com/fhra.
Eurodragster.com will not be reporting from this event but FHRA will be posting results. In the meantime you can check out the impressive entry list by
clicking here.

UK Pro Modified tuner Dave Moore sent us this picture of brother Andrew Moore, an
English teacher in China, holding a lesson about drag racing. Dave added that he will be taking over the seat of the Viper
at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway in July. "I don't have a Pro Modified race licence so we will have a crack
at UK Top Sportsman", he says. "Roger (Brother and usual driver - Ed) says that if I run in the 6.3s then he will
want to get back in the seat!"

Thanks to Bianca Booij for sending us a Tierp Internationals review from Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch Pro Modified team. You can check out
the Dutch-language PDF by clicking here.

No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to longtime Eurodragster.com supporter
Perry Antoniou. Hope you had a great day Perry.

Doorslammers head for North Weald.28th June: North Weald Drag Strip on the edge of London hosts the inaugural Gearhead Garage No Prep Doorslammer Nationals this Sunday (2nd July).
Organiser Paul Marston writes :

The outlaw, no time, eighth-mile event has £1000 cash up for grabs for the winner. It's a sixteen-car field and other than callouts it's random pairings with names
out of the hat.

Who is coming? Come and find out! There is no published entry list anywhere. This is gonna be a lot of fun. Eurodragster.com will be there for a post-event report. We
intend to film the event and it will be posted on 1320.com at a later date.

Thanks to Tony Huck for hosting us, Eurodragster.com for attending (Thank you, you're welcome - Ed), Mick Pusey of Gearhead Garage for the commemorative shirts,
all the competitors for entering, and the PMR crew for helping to run it. Finally thank you to Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull who has thrown some more money into the
pot for the prize fund; a special Thank You to Jeff for his support.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
reports, results, pit notes and galleries by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. Please join Tog in a big Thank You to Simon and Julian for their hard work over the weekend.

You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Friday of next week, 30th June, is the official closing date for Bug Jam after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

£2000 for Finals Super Gas win.22nd June: Al's Gasser Super Gas Shootout organiser Jon Giles has been in touch to let us know that
there will be a bumper payout for the winner of Super Gas at the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in
September:

Due to the rainout at the FIA / FIM Main Event we have carried over the prize money from that race to add to the Al's Gasser
Super Gas Shootout pot at the European Finals. So there will be a prize pot of £2000 plus SPRC's prize money for the
winner of Super Gas.

I am trying to make Super Gas fields as big as possible and to see if it can be duplicated next year. The numbers have gone
up so it seems to have worked a bit.

"You will need to be willing to travel, reliable, enthusiastic, able to give a sizeable commitment and be a non-smoker", says
Roger. "No jet knowledge is needed but mechanical ability is a must. It doesn't matter if you never crewed before as we will
provide training, but you should be willing to learn.

Further to last Thursday's news item about drag racing possibly starting in Eire,
UK drag racing legend and British Drag Racing Hall of
Fame member Pete Crane writes that the Bexhill Motor Race
in May 1902 featured two cars against each other and the clock. "Sounds pretty close to drag racing, don't you think?",
says Pete. Certainly does. Any more takers?

Bonneville: The return.22nd June: Land Speed racer and sponsor of various drag racing parties Geoff Stilwell of
Beech Underwriting plans to address some unfinished
business at Bonneville Speed Week:

Last year I got my B class Land Speed licence on the Bonneville Salt Flats but sadly just fell short of the 200 mph we really wanted. Afterwards, I sat down with
Brian Hope of Rat Trap Racing sat down to see what we would do in 2017. The answer was that we, or more to point I, needed to do it.

How could we make the car go faster etc etc. The first thing we did was to order a new ProCharger for the car plus electronic fuel injection and a new dry sump
system for 436 cubic inch Chevy. Ed Iskenderian of Iskenderian Racing Cams ground a special cam
for the car, Arias supplied the pistons and Trickflow the heads.

Fast forward to this past weekend. To make the car more comfortable to drive I made the trip to the Rat
Trap Racing shop in Tennessee where we poured my new safety seat. I had to wear my full firesuit and with the air temperature at over 100°F and 85%
humidity, plus the heat from the special chemicals used to form the seat, I was glad when I could get out and take off my firesuit.

As I write this we have fifty two days until Bonneville Speed Week starts. Our entry is in and been accepted, and the engine is being completed and should be in the car
shortly. Then we have to fit the ProCharger, intercooler and all the computer wizardry. Oh and I can't forget that we need to make some mods to the body to cater for
the ProCharger plus tweak the aero package on the car.

So what is the target? The car has been built to go for a reachable but specific record. The class record for the car in which I will race, BB/GMRR or Blown B Class Engine,
Gas, Modified Rear Engined Roadster, currently stands at 212 mph. Our calculations suggest that with the gearing and the increased bhp we should be able to go at least 250
mph. The plan however is to shake the car down on the first day and to make sure that I get my A class licence, which will allow me to go after the record on the following days.

Our whole racing programme is being filmed for TV; we started filming this past weekend when we were at Bowling Green for the Holley Hot Rod Reunion.

I cannot thank enough all of the Hope family especially Ron, Brian and Rebecca, all of the Rat Trap Racing Team, Bob and Sharon Muravez and Ray Iddings the legendary TV
producer and director, not forgetting Tony Thacker of Thacker and Friends because I just could not do this without them. In addition I also need to thank
Iskenderian Racing Cams, in particular Ed Iskenderian whose help has been amazing,
Technocraft Aluminium Cabinets, Rat Trap Racing
and BUA Motorsport.

Web site updates.22nd June: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted two Tierp Internationals reports on the Autosport.nl web site.
As ever there is a race report which you can check out by
clicking here
and a report of "Other things I saw" which you can check out by
clicking here. Don't worry
if you can't read Dutch because, as ever, it is pretty clear what is being said and, as ever, the pictures are great.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by
Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Pete Walters at the
FIA / FIM Main Event. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds.
The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded
for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for Dragstalgia
at Santa Pod Raceway in July; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Dragstalgia. The Perfect Light Award is presented
in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried.
Eurodragster.com decals are available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been reset to £50 after it was won
by Pro ET racer Paul Brown at the FIA / FIM Main Event. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend
to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or
eliminations in Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street,
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Nostalgia Super Stock, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ET Bike
and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won this weekend then the
Award will be increased to £75 for the Bug Jam Santa Pod Raceway in July; if it is won then it will be reset to £50
for Bug Jam. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Gold RV in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at
www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one
on each side of the vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion;
we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are
available in the Signing On office.

The event comprised a round-robin series of match races between Rat Trap, Bradford's,
Nanook and Havoc. The weather was hot and humid, mid 90s on both days and adjusted
altitude not below 3,250 feet so not ideal for us.

In round one on Friday we raced stablemate, and local hero, Ron Hope in the Rat Trap Bantam.
Problems in the right lane gave us a relatively simple task, but a 6.46 at 214 mph was an
encouraging start. In round two we were up against good friend Randy Bradford and his Fiat.
We were 1-1 in previous meetings with Randy, who was developing the car with a new fuel pump
system and injector with impressive results. All felt good in the burnout but too many energy
drinks and stifling temperatures helped contribute to leaving a cherry on the tree and handing
the win to Randy. We ran 6.55 at 223 mph, the speed becoming all too apparent when the chutes
didn't deploy and a sharp reminder of the benefits of front brakes ensued. Thankfully the
shutdown area was smooth and the car stopped short of the sand pit, with the Safety Safari
arriving as I pulled to a halt. All good - other than the cherry and the poor sixty - the
weather was at 3,750 feet and the motor was dropping cylinders at the startline in protest!

Round three on Saturday and a first race with the legendary Nanook, now driven by Vincent
Generalao Sr. Burnouts completed into pre-stage, breathe and get settled. Do not
bulb again. Tree runs, reasonable light and a couple of tell-tale puffs from the headers
indicate more dropping cylinders. Nanook appears on the left side but isn't pulling away.
We're starting to haul as we hit mid-track, moving around a little but nothing too scary.
We're pulling him in now, the body's gone out of the peripheral, and now the motor too.
The wheel disappears as the finish line approaches. It's too close to call. Great race.
Chutes hit, stop the car and neither of us know who won. Of course it doesn't really matter
but it matters hugely!

Crews arrive and much back-slapping and hugging ensues as I'm told we didn't quite make
it - if only the track was twenty feet longer! Tow back and plenty of applause through the
pits for what must have looked a great race, both cars run 6.44 - Nanook 6.447/222 to
Havoc's 6.449/228. Back to the pits and travelling Brit supporters are all smiles and
congratulations. "Thanks, but it would have been even better if we'd won." Response:
"You did win!". "Huh?". We did win. The win light is so small, the crew didn't
see it. Won it on a holeshot with a margin of victory of 0.0127 seconds (49.62
inches - Ed). Doesn't get much better. Amazing race.

Round four and back against Rat Trap. Loser buys dinner. Unfortunately, the transformer
malfunctioned in the burnout and we lost fire. We bought dinner and it was a pleasure to
do so.

A fantastic weekend with thanks to the Hope family, Geoff Stilwell and Beech Underwriting
Agencies, Lawrie Gatehouse and the NFAA, Stewart Bassett and US Automotive, Goodyear,
Motorstate, Lucas Oils, ARP Fasteners and the Sherratt family.

See you next in Martin, Michigan. Can't wait!

50 Shades of greenbacks.21st June: The UK's Andy Dibley says that his 50 Shades of Racing team will again
be putting up a bonus in Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET at Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd July:

The 50 Shades of Racing Reaction Time Award is back! The rules are pretty simple: all of each racer's RTs in qualifying are added together
up and the racer with the lowest total time is the winner. 0.5 is added to your total if you go red or if you miss a qualifying session. Last year
Chris Creswell took the pot of cash with an overall RT total of 0.632 seconds after six rounds of qualifying.

Entry is open to anyone competing in Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET over the weekend. The entry fee is £5 all of which goes into
the pot for the winner to add to the £50 already in the kitty from Yours Truly. A change from last year is that all cars taking part
must have a 50 Shades of Racing decal on their car; decals are available from our pits when you enter.

With a lot of guest appearances from other classes for the weekend we're hoping for a record cash prize and some good class-to-class
rivalry! For more information head over to the
Sportsman ET Facebook page.

Swift snippets.21st June: Many thanks to timing and stats guru Andy Marrs for forwarding us an
updated table of European and UK bests now including Micke Gullqvist's Pro Modified ET record set
at Tierp Arena on Sunday. You can check out the updated table by
clicking here or by clicking on
the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Editor's note: Your News Editor is still shagged out from the weekend so we currently have a backlog of news which
will be cleared on the next update due this evening. Stay tuned and please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.

If you are at the track on Friday then if possible please try to have your vehicle scrutineered on Friday.

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other
reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event including Friday's
All Torque Test Day. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden.
Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside
Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish
to raise any matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see Race Secretary
Kathy Taylor who is based in Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes,
to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing
except to Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

Bug Jam entry update.20th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd July (RWYB Friday 21st and until 15:00 Saturday).

You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Friday of next week, 30th June, is the official closing date for Bug Jam after which entry, if accepted, may be subject
to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then
please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Eurodragster.com Sportsman ET.20th June: We are very happy to reveal that Sportsman ET will be sponsored by Eurodragster.com
at Bug Jam. We are doubly pleased and proud to support the class, not only because Sportsman ET the entry level to the
sport but also because Bug Jam is developing a tradition of attracting a huge Sportsman ET field including racers
from other classes in their street cars making it fun as well as competitive.

As well as the mandatory decals for the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting
Bloodwise, Sportsman ET competitors will be required to
carry Eurodragster.com decals at Bug Jam.

News of what is on offer to the winner will be announced closer to the event.

Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for forwarding us the post-event standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships.
You can take a look at the FIA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored
Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking
on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

From air strip to drag strip.15th June: Marcus Möller writes that Supertwin star Tommy Grimes arrived in Sweden yesterday (Wednesday) preparatory
to riding Per Bengtsson's Beast at Tierp Arena this weekend, but that in the short time since since his arrival he and the Beast
team have got in some testing:

Tommy flew in to Sweden and went straight to Malmö Raceway with the team. As usual the team have been diligent during the off-season; the most visible change is the addition
of a chute, which was about time for the European speed record holder don't you think?

The ambition for tonight was refreshing all of the routines and giving Tommy a couple more runs under his belt. I left the team at the track after two launches and they looked
determined and expectant.

The Beast Drag Bike Team are looking forward to meeting racers, friends and fans at the Tierp Internationals!

Did drag racing start in Eire?15th June: FIA Drag Racing Commission member and UK Tech Committee Chair Phil Evans says that the common
assumption that drag racing began in California might just be misguided not to mention wrong by forty or fifty years:

There were side by side sprint races at the Brighton Speed Trials during the 1930s, and now I have been given a book by Graham McDonald which appears to place the
birth of drag racing in Phoenix Park, Dublin during a speed trials event in 1903.

The track was laid out along the two-mile straight which runs through the centre of the Park: a measured mile for acceleration then a kilometre for measuring the speed,
to set flying kilometre records. One problem was the Phoenix Monument which was (and still is) placed about half way along, so the sides of the plinth were trimmed back
to give more room for the competitors to pass either side!

The world speed record was broken and a new record of 89.5 mph was set, which was pretty good for 1903. However after the speed trials were completed they staged match
races in which cars competed in pairs, flagged off from a standing start, to see which got to the finish line first. Sound familiar?

So just maybe the very first drag races were held not in California, but in Ireland fifty years earlier!

Street and Strip back Ruaridh.15th June: UK Junior Dragster racer Ruaridh Hart is pleased to announce that his Eliminator dragster is
to be supported by Street and Strip magazine for the rest of this season:

Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström and wife Nina, who now own and edit the Swedish drag race and hot rod magazine are great supporters of Junior
drag racing, describing the class as "The future of our sport". Ruaridh has long been a fan of Thomas and his Team R/T Pro Stock. As an honorary team
member and friend, Ruaridh is delighted to announce the Street and Strip sponsorship.

"We have come to a mutual arrangement between the magazine and Ruaridh", says Thomas. "Thomas has been my mentor and friend since I was ten
years old and first in a dragster" says Ruaridh. "I am really pleased to be working with Team R/T and Street and Strip magazine."

Street and Strip will be making further announcements regarding Junior Dragster racing in the near future so keep an eye out for an exciting
opportunity to be promoted through the magazine.

Get Well Soon Panda!15th June: Lizz Charman has been in touch to ask us to send love and best wishes to Ben 'Panda' Butler who
is in hospital after a suspected stroke:

Panda has been involved in drag racing since he was seventeen years old working first at Shakespeare County Raceway then moving to
Santa Pod Raceway as part of the fire crew. He has travelled all over with the Santa Pod crew including Bahrain, Sweden, Belgium and Spain.
In 2012 he and long-time girlfriend Natalie moved to the arse end of nowhere in the highlands of Scotland.

Natalie tells me that on 1st June Ben was rushed into Caithness General with a suspected stroke, and emergency airlifted
to Aberdeen Royal infirmary where life-saving surgery was undertaken to insert a drain to relieve the pressure. Since then Ben has had two
further operations. They think that the cause of all this is an infection in a heart valve which will need replacing once they are on top of the
infection. He is still in a pretty poorly condition in ICU, but is fighting it.

He is only thorty two and has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met, which goes with the biggest feet ever, for which everyone used to take
the mickey out of him!

So onto Round 2, and the historic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Affectionately known as "Boiling Green" at this time of year because of the heat
and humidity. Will it bother three pale-faced Anglo Saxons? Not a chance: knotted handkerchiefs and rolled-up trousers packed and ready for battle (Don't
forget the Watneys Red Barrel - Ed). Knowledge
gained from Round 1 included the fact that arriving two days before the race meeting left insufficient time to complete prep work satisfactorily so, with this in mind,
Crew Chief Rob Loaring left the UK a week early to undertake maintenance and servicing. This is all continuing satisfactorily with no surprises, thankfully, so tomorrow
(Wednesday) will comprise loading and travelling to the track. On Thursday we will disassemble and service the motor and on Friday the flag will be unfurled and we
will go into battle with the other assembled Fuel Altereds.

Format is to be decided but is likely to be a friendly round-robin affair with ourselves, Ron and Brian Hope's Rat Trap Bantam, Randy Bradford's Fiat - sporting
new fuel system, pump and injector - and the infamous Nanook of Dave and the rest of the Hough family. We will, of course, take each round like barely-disguised
smiling assassins.

Anyone with NHRA All Access can apparently watch live coverage of the event including not only the racing but also the Saturday night Cacklefest. All Access is something about
which I have only read and if the coverage is intermittent or non-existent then please don't complain to me but instead send all spontaneous, unreasonable complaints to the
usual Eurodragster.com address as per normal (I only wish it were a joke - Ed).

As a celebration of the 2017 tour, Paul Whitehouse has completed one of his drag racing renditions detailing a race between Havoc and Rat Trap at Famoso, as shown above.
Paul is considering a small print run of the painting. Please register your interest by E-Mailing Paul at pwhitehouse3@aol.com.

Thanks, as ever, to our tour partners Beech Underwriting Services, Lawrie Gatehouse and the NFAA, US Automotive, Rat Trap Racing, Lucas Oil, Goodyear Tyres, Motorstate
Distributing, Thacker & Friends, the Sherratt family, ARP Fasteners, and all the supporters back home for your kind words of encouragement - it is greatly appreciated! Scott
and I will try and keep you updated via Facebook, Instagram and any other means available including Eurodragster.com if the team have time away from their busy schedule at
Tierp Arena (We'll make time - Ed).

Overpowered and over here.13th June: Not only do the UK's Nostalgia stars go overseas but overseas Nostalgia stars come to the UK, as James
Forster writes about Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway on 14th-16th July:

Whilst in 2016 the stars of the show were the Fuel Altereds from the USA, this year's line-up includes an influx of entries from a little closer to home, i.e. Scandinavia. The
bulk of the guest entries are making the 1,000+ mile journey from Sweden but you'll also find racers from Norway, France, Holland, Italy and beyond throughout the
entry list.

One of the main classes to benefit from overseas guests is the Slingshot Showdown, a heads-up class for front-engined dragsters capable of completing the quarter mile in less
than 8.50 seconds which means that meaning high-octane, exciting racing is guaranteed. In this, only the class' second year at Dragstalgia, we have no less than four cars from
Sweden and another from Norway taking the challenge to our home-grown heroes. Joe Bond is likely to remain the favourite following his dominant victory at the 2016 event
with a whole host of impressive six-second passes but if he's going to lift the trophy again he'll certainly have to work for it!

The other class with a significant injection of Swedish machinery is the Gasser Circus. The UK Gasser Circus racers are a highlight of Dragstalgia in their own right but a showdown
with our Scandinavian guests really is a mouth-watering prospect. Sweden will be represented by The Rattler Bel Air, Dogcatcher Crown Victoria, Super Nova
and the Sharp Teeth Barracuda to take on the likes of the Mighty Mouse Ford Pop, Gold Rush '41 Ford, Honky Tonkins 1 and 2 and many
more.

The 1,000 mile journey from Sweden is dwarfed by the journey which Wild Bunch entrant Valdo Westphal has planned with his altered. Valdo is making the trip to Santa Pod
from Noumea in New Caledonia which is a French island off the coast of Australia – a 10,000 mile trip! That's commitment for you!

The Dragstalgia Cannonball is another class which is shaping up nicely with new cars emerging this year. Defending Champion Ramon van der Weurf will be returning in his
awesome Wild'r at Heart Dodge Charger but to retain the title,he will have to fend off the 2015 champion Tim Garlick in his five-second Firebird. Tony Betts in the
Venom Camaro is a new contender and he has already been showing promise after just a few outings this year. There are a number of other methanol- and nitro-burning
altereds and Funny Cars on the entry list too so this year's title really is anyone's game. We can't wait to see how this one plays out!

The weekend wouldn't be complete without a mixture of automotive highlights from classes such as the iconic Willys Wars, American Muscle of Nostalgia Superstock, Crazy
Outlaw Anglias, NSA Historic Bike Shootout, Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Flat Fours and new for 2017 Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike! As usual the highlights run throughout the
Dragstalgia Invitational in which anything goes. You'll be treated to a whiff of nitro during these sessions too: Clive Mechaell will be bringing the California Kid for its
annual outing and we're pleased to have Robin Read making passes in the legendary Daimler dragster.

There's plenty to take in away from the track too with Ken Fox's legendary Wall of Death, the Autoglym Show and Shine competition presented by the NSRA, static displays,
a beer festival and loads more!

So mark your diaries for one of the most action-packed, historic weekends on the calendar, Dragstalgia on 14th-16th July. Discount advance tickets are available until 17:00 UK
time on Friday 7th July meaning you can grab a weekend pass for just £35 plus fees to include three days of racing, show cars and entertainment plus two nights of
camping with live music (as part of your Sporting Event entrance only). See www.dragstalgia.co.uk for the
full line-up and entry list and to book your tickets.

£1000 for York's Street Racer Champion.13th June: £1000 is up for grabs by the winner of the 40th Street Racer Championship at
York Raceway on 2nd July. Chris Murty writes:

The original race for real street-legal cars returns for its 40th running. One thing for sure is that it is never a dead cert who will win. Drivers and their cars have to bring their A-game.
There are no second chances. Cars can't consistently come and do well over a season and claim a Championship... one bad reaction, one red light, one missed shift, one bad launch
and it is game over, you are in the stands. This provides the most gripping race that York Raceway has to offer.

To enter, you need a car which is taxed and tested and in full street-legal condition. Further guidelines can be found on our
Facebook page. Entry to the event is £15 and Street Racer entry is £40.

The 119 pictures cover pits, fire-up road - which puts a date range on them - on-track both trackside and spectator-side,
shutdown area and return road and feature a number of famous names, both racers and vehicles (left) and both
UK and European, including a handful of racers still active today. We could not put hand on heart and say that we can
place every single picture, not least because they are obviously from more than one event and from more than one year,
but suggestions are welcome at editor@eurodragster.com.

Pete gave us three boxes of slides which were carefully scanned and in many cases rescued by our good friend Alan Currans
of the Acceleration Archive. We would like to
say a big Thank You to Alan for his painstaking work and of course add that if you like your Nostalgia then please do
visit Alan's own site at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
A big Thank You also, of course, to Pete for passing us the pictures.

You can check out our gallery of Pete's 1970s Santa Pod shots by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Bartlett on the Main Event.12th June: On behalf of Trakbak Racing, Santa Pod Raceway and Track Group Europe CEO Keith Bartlett
has been in touch with his take on the FIA / FIM Main Event:

The Main Event was blessed with some fine weather over the first three days and as a result some fine qualifying sessions took place for the Pro
classes along with some good racing in the Sportsman classes. We lost much of the Bank Holiday Monday to very frustrating intermittent rain but
the racing which did take place produced some quick times and speeds. The bottom line is that had we not have lost the second round of Top Fuel
to rain then I feel sure we were about to witness some very fast times, even possibly in the 3.80s at over 300 mph. The conditions before that final
rain were ideal with a good track temperature combined with fairly good air and no wind. As is so often the case in these situations, and after hours
of trying to dry the track against a light but constant drizzle, when finally we were ready to go it rained again and heavy enough to bring the meeting
to an end.

At least the many thousands of spectators who attended on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were treated to a full busy schedule and some good runs all round.

Some of the highlights of the weekend were seeing Super Street Bike running over the 200 mph barrier - and not just one run and one rider. In Pro Modified
it was very encouraging to see such a strong turnout and entry of British cars and teams. To have had an entry of over twenty cars containing only four Swedish
Pro Modifieds was a first for the class in the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. It was also great to see crowd favorite Fredrik 'Fast Freddy' Fagerström
back with his '66 Chevrolet C10 Pro Modified pick-up truck. Now with a return to his old blown motor set-up, things were back to normal with his wild long
burnouts. Talking of Pro Modified, as expected it did not take Jimmy Ålund (of Pro Stock fame) long to get a handle on his new ride in the '51 Chevrolet
Pro Modified business coupe. We can expect some keen competition this season for Championship honors between Jimmy and reigning FIA Champion Michael
Gullqvist. The Old 51 Coupe has a good history of running fast times with two other famed Swedish drivers, Nicolas Andersson and John Lindberg. One
new car for 2017 in the Pro Mod ranks made it to the event but was not quite ready to run in the competition – Jon Webster's '67 Ford Mustang. Like all Webster
Engineering-built cars, it's engineering at its best and immaculate! In fact so much so it could be wrapped in gift paper and never raced – I know a few people
who would like that as a present.

The Main Event was the first round of the 2017 FIA European Drag Racing Championship at which the two FIA methanol classes, Top Methanol Dragster and Top
Methanol Funny Car, had been combined to run together. This was a new ruling from the FIA Drag Racing Commission for 2017 and was almost a hark back to
the days of Pro Comp in the 1980s albeit with a 0.26 sec index between Funny Car and Dragster. Brought about by the lack of cars in each of the individual
classes (TMD and TMFC) and now named Top Methanol, the combined class was an initial success over the weekend with an entry of six cars, including two
Funny Cars. We shall wait and see how this class develops throughout 2017.

It was good over the Main Event weekend to see yet another young person licensing to join the Formula 1 class of drag racing – Top Fuel Dragster. Urs Erbacher's
daughter Jndia, having already run a A/Fuel Dragster in Top Methanol, made some licencing runs to gain her Top Fuel licence. What we saw was a cool performance,
not only doing what she was told, but showing that she can handle 10,000 HP as well as her dad when the car gets loose at half-track with a wild ride captured live
on the TV cameras. No doubt in my mind Jndia will get her Top Fuel licence sooner than later.

One of my own favourite classes in drag racing, Street Eliminator was on show again with all the usual suspects running the numbers. I really do see
this class representing the true roots of drag racing; street legal cars (just) running very fast, albeit I accept that the cars in this class are not exactly
your normal street cars. This is where I came from in the 1970s with Street Modified. Somehow along the way, I drifted into running Pro cars and Pro
classes in the 1990s via the European Top Fuel Association and the rest as they say is history...

I remain very keen to do something with Johnny Smith and the Channel 5 TV show Fifth Gear built around Street Eliminator.

On two wheels, we have an interesting season ahead in Top Fuel Bike as to who will take over Ian King's crown. We had eight entries at the Main
Event seeking to do just that. This scenario will unfold over the next few rounds of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship and with a limited
number of Championship events this year every round win is crucial.

We had very good weather over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In fact the track temperature was too hot on Sunday and, no matter how well we prepare
the track surface, when it's around or goes above 120° on an asphalt track, it gets real tricky to prevent movement on the surface. Life can become
quite difficult for the teams to tune their cars to it and at the same time for us to tune the track to suit all classes; Sunday afternoon qualifying demonstrated
that. However, with the cloud cover and lower temprature on Monday, the track was bitching and ready to take fast times and high speed numbers. We
started to witness this before the rain stopped play.

The Main Event saw the continuation of Trakbak Racing Ltd's live web broadcast and, as I have been preaching for several years now, this form of TV
broadcasting is the future for all sports and especially minority sports. With that said, I am not so sure that drag racing at Santa Pod Raceway is so much
a minority sport any longer.

Live coverage of the Main Event proved to be our most successful broadcast to date both in terms of viewing figures as well as innovation within the
production across the weekend. We had just shy of 250,000 unique views and with the new addition of Facebook Live an incredible worldwide reach
of over 8.2 million which is absolutely staggering and excellent for the sport of drag racing – as said, no longer minority sport figures.

A big Thank You goes out to all the fans who have helped the live stream increase year on year and with the ever-increasing power of social media
we hope to continue driving the sport forward to new audiences and improve for all our loyal, longtime fans.

Some of you would have seen we are in the middle of refurbishing one of our main shops, the Garage next door to the Pod Shop in the pits. This
project is only half finished and when completed will be selling an alternative range of clothing to that which is sold in the normal Pod shops.
This will include brands such as Gas Monkey and Quarter Mile Clothing. In addition, we will continue to sell VP Racing Fuel, a full range of products
from Autoglym and Lucas Oil, plus the complete Draper Tools range of tools and equipment.

Another successful addition to the Main Event was the weekend's Beer Festival hosted in main bar, where you could buy designer drag racing beers
and ales. Our bar manager Paul Savage has successfully negotiated with a local brewery to produce and market some specially-branded beers and
ales with aptly named labels including Pod Face, 92nd Bomber, Trackbite and of course Top Fuel all of which were very
well-received by our race fans and weekend campers. Look out for the extended range at next month's Dragstalgia event,

We now look forward to the next round of the FIA Championships at the Tierp Arena in Sweden next weekend, followed by the SPRC Summernationals
at Santa Pod.

See you at the track.

European Top Gas Round 2 review.12th June: Herman Jolink (right) writes that the latest round of the
European Top Gas Series took place over the eighth mile at
Mälmo Raceway last weekend:

The track was very well-prepared by Lee Child of the UK. Eight qualifying sessions were possible starting at 11:00 on
Saturday morning. Final qualifying:

Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 1198 RS (1266) 5.223/208. Herman had a new Personal Best sixty foot by 0.012 seconds and had support from one of Jorg Braune's crew, thanks Kalle.

Gerd Caspari D on 2400 V-Twin 5.227/209. Gerd's Crew Chief Bernd Niessen rode the bike for several years and he is now helping Gerd although Gerd originally built and rode the bike.

Chris van Nimmen B on 2622 V-Twin 5.446/201. Chris' Crew Chief was Marc v d Boer as his own bike was not ready.

Olaf Menzi CH on 2622 V-Twin 5.455/161.

Anders Jensen DK on 2000 V-Twin with mechanical turbo 5.673/188. In one qualifying run Anders has a big fireball melting a hole in the aluminium cylinder head, he took the head off
and took it to Jorg Lindskog thirty kilometres from Malmö Raceway. Jorg welded the cylinder head so Anders' motor was OK for eliminations.

Not qualified: Jorg Braune D on 2000 V-Twin 6.005/187, had some problems going straight with a new slick but with some advice from Herman got the bike in a straight line; Ole
Schleichert D on HD Destroyer 6.342/175.

On Sunday it started to rain at 09:15 and eliminations were cancelled at 14:30 as the sky was full of black cloud.

European Top Gas Series points standings:

Schack DK 865

Lymant D 765

Malmberg S 640

Jolink NL 600

Braune D 430

Schleichert D 410

Caspari D 340

Foit D 340

van Nimmen B 330

Menzi CH 320

Niklas D 320

Jensen DK 310

Rasmussen DK 300

The next round is at Drachten on 28th-30th July.

What he said would never happen...11th June: In two weeks' time Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer Colin Theobald will move from the commentary
box and take his '69 Camaro Bruce into the world of Pro ET racing for the first time. Colin writes:

I never, ever thought I would race this car (We all knew better and said so - Ed), but the urge took over and the number one item on my bucket list is about to be
realised (See? - Ed). Commentary comes first for me, but with my business I'm normally working the same weekend as the SPRC Summernationals, but not this
year. Thankfully I knew well in advance that the weekend would be clear so my MSA licence and my SPRC membership were applied for back in January. My licensing
runs were made back in March under the watchful eye of Ian Marshall; it felt so good when he shook my hand and said "Congratulations" followed by the usual "It's a
slippery slope from here...".

As you know one of my favourite past-times at Santa Pod is the passenger rides and I wasn't prepared to do these without the correct safety equipment. Webster Race Engineering
installed the roll cage last year and what a stunning job they did. Remember, this is a street car so the door bar and harness bar had to be removable, not that the harness bar has
ever come out since it first went in. Ash and Nic at OCS Paint then painted the roll cage black to match the interior and you have to look at least twice to see that it is there.
I had the car inspected at Easter in preparation for racing and a few minor changes were pointed out to make the car race-legal, for example two springs on the throttle return etc.

Bruce is once again at his second home, Williams Bros Racing, having the flex plate and harmonic balancer changed along with a full fluid service, of course only Lucas Oils products
here. I've treated Bruce to a new pair of slicks as the old ones were, shall we say, getting lots of use especially in the burnout box.

As most of you know I'm racing with the Williams Bros Racing team, we have three cars entered for the event and all in Pro ET. Nic Williams has stolen his dad Keith's Chevelle
once again and has Lorne Denny as Crew Chief, James Oliver will be in the Firebird with Dan Williams as Crew Chief, so it's Summer Wine racing with me driving and Keith Williams
as Crew Chief. No doubt the banter will reach new levels over the weekend and that's just between the three WBR teams. James and I are both double-classing in Nostalgia Super
Stock as well, so making the most of the event.

At this stage I'd like to say a massive thank you to Lucas Oil Products who supply all of the oils and lubricants for the car, we wouldn't use anything else; Santa Pod Raceway for giving us the
venue where we all live for those precious seconds on the quarter mile, AutoGlym for making sure that Bruce looks his best all of the time, Peter Walters Race Designs for his
continued updates for which I keep asking him along with the web site, logo designs etc, Eurodragster.com for the superb coverage and keeping us all informed, where would
we be without you (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed), CJT Promotions - might as well mention my own model car racing events company - and finally Williams Bros Racing and
OCS Paint. Nic, Dan and Keith Williams along with Ash, Brendan, Matty, Alix and Elaine... if it wasn't for these guys and girls I wouldn't even have the car, let alone be on the
verge of racing it, thanks for having me as part of the team.

So instead of my opening announcement of each event I'll be waiting impatiently for my good friend Darryl Bradford to call "Pro ET into the pairing lanes". No doubt Darryl
will be insulting me to the best of his ability (Not just Darryl - his fellow announcer) so I'll have everyone listening in and letting me know what has been said!

I apologise in advance for all of the excitable banter to the other racers, especially those I eliminate on the way to my first event win... I might even wake up from this
dream soon.

Swift snippets.11th June: After a year's break due to work commitments Billy Gane's drag racing summer party is back for the fifth time
in Chelmsford on Saturday 5th August. "The format is much the same as in previous years", says Billy. "It's an excuse to get together and have a good time. Everyone
is welcome, racers or fans and there is plenty of space to stay the night if you wish. Tickets are £10 on the door and include a barbecue, entry into the win-a-car
raffle, and a souvenir glass. There will be a Gladiator Knockout to win a gallon of beer, various party games, a live band, disco, and of course the famous Chodes Bar
serving some bargain price booze!". If you have any queries either message Billy on Facebook or call / text 07904 612048.

Thanks to Bianca Booij for sending us an FIA / FIM Main Event review from Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch Pro Modified team. You can check out
the Dutch-language PDF by clicking here.

Please note that there is nowebcast of this weekend's Tierp Internationals either by
Eurodragster.com or by any other party. You will have to slum it with our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored Event
Coverage which, we flatter ourselves, has never let anyone down yet and certainly not those who steal from it.

In total we had twelve cars entered but unfortunately there were a few no shows. Firstly no Stu Williams with the Supra due to delays in getting the engine back from the machine
shop leaving no time to get the car MOT'd. Gordon Stimpson, who was due to début the ex-Andy Bond Mustang with its fantastic new paint job unfortunately had an incident
on the way to the MOT leaving the car with a broken windscreen and not enough time to get it fixed and retested. The last car did show, the 1955 Chevy sister car to Andy Bond's 1956,
however a few jobs picked up by the scrutineer meant that it was unable to race. We did however welcome the return of a number of racers and the début of two new cars,
Anthony Wilkins with the new Morris Traveller and the long-awaited 1956 Chevy of Andy Bond.

Friday was scheduled for six qualifiers and was certainly going to be a busy day if you wanted to run every round. In Q1 Gary Gooding and Martin Smith put in good passes, both
getting a feel for the track. Al Williamson and Nigel Hale in their Chevy pick-ups were making their first checkout passes following engine repair work. Both looked like good runs
and put a number on the board. Nick Hale having being spotted the previous day towing his caravan into the event with the race car showed what his multi-purpose street car
could do running a storming 10.14 ET straight off. Mark Todd put in his claim early for the #1 position running a 7.68 pass despite tyre squeal from the launch! Andy Bond made
his début run in competition following a number of passes on the test day with the stunning 1956 new Chevy, a gentle pass and just below the class index required to
make the qualifying list.

A small while later we were back round for Q2. Martin clearly leaning on the car a little more this time round to consolidate #2 position with a 8.18 pass meanwhile Al with the
truck smoked the tyres from the get-go but still managed to improve on the ET and up one position to #4. It was now time for the first competitive outing for Anthony Wilkins
in the supercharged Morris Traveller, a great run netting him an 11.90 with an early shut-off so plenty more to go. Jeff Meads with the bright yellow Pop made a welcome return
but decided a no nitrous 9.83 run was the way to go which put him in at #5. Nick Hale chipped a bit more off the ET this time but down into #6. Nigel Hale meanwhile stormed
down with a 10.65 in the big truck securing #7.

No changes in Q3, onto Q4. Mark Todd clearly tried to put a bit more power into the car on this go with the tyres fighting against it, despite trying to drive through he
had to back out. Nick and Nigel both had solid passes but made no improvements this time. Al stepping up the power once again had to pedal during the run but managed
to get back into the eights running 8.75/150. Two more runs remained for Friday although some decided not to run every round due to the tighter turn-round times, opting
to check the cars over, let them cool, and make changes. Strong launch for Al in Q5 but only to the eighth then easing off for the rest of the run, all looking like it was planned
so no dramas. Gary in the Supra made some changes for this run which look to have paid off chipping over a tenth off his time but still leaving him #3. Mark made a good run
this time around but without the painful squealing of tyres, a step in the right direction but again no improvement.

In Q6 Nigel nailed the consistency running a 10.67 after the previous 10.65, good going for the big truck. The last pair to run through was Al Williamson and Anthony Wilkins.
Drama for Al following the launch the truck picked up the front wheels to one of the highest wheel stands the team had seen. The truck came down hard and hit the track
and repeated a couple more times resulting in a huge ploughed section where the chassis dug in. Al shut off following the wheelie and avoided a potential catastrophe as
Anthony in the other lane struggled with the Moggy as it pulled him across the track towards the top end and into A'ss Lane. Both were OK, no damage to either car despite
the hard touchdown to Al's truck. Anthony discovered a puncture which caused the abrupt lane departure. The track however didn't fare quite so well which resulted in the
rest of the qualifying being held in one lane and the track crew staying up until midnight to fix the damage.

Saturday rolled round and a nice lay-for the teams as we weren't due on track until gone midday, however with a few delays in the Pro session this was then pushed back
until 15:00. Conditions were challenging with a strong blustery headwind. Mark, Martin and Gary were all suffering with traction issues in the first quarter of the track meaning
aborted runs and no improvements. Andy Bond managed a good launch and half pass netting a stout 8.58 and thus PB for him in this car. Jeff Meads completed the burnout but
something didn't quite sound right. After he lined up for the run and the lights dropped there was a horrible sound of something not happy inside the engine and he shut off
and pulled over. Once back in the pits it was later diagnosed that there had been a nitrous malfunction resulting in a number of melted pistons. Such a shame to end the
weekend that way, we hope you can get repaired and out again soon Jeff. Q8, a late start due to previous setbacks but the cooler air and warm track seemed to be helping.
Martin was getting somewhere with the Bentley and managed to run his first seven of the event with a 7.88 however he still stayed #2. Mark also had a slightly better run
improving his ET by the smallest of margins to run 7.62/194. Gary's go next but the engine stalled after the burnout and once again before staging, something wasn't happy
so was pushed back from the line and trundled back to the pits. Fantastic run for Andy, things really going in the right direction now with a another PB of 8.10/184. Al ran an
8.73, a marginal improvement over the previous 8.75. No order changes in this time, we were to await the final qualifying round on Sunday to see if that changed things.

Sunday arrived and quite a change in the weather, having lost the very strong headwind present on Saturday and with the sun beating down. No lay-in for the teams this
morning with Q9 kicking off at just gone 10:00. Gary in the Supra first off and a good solid run his first seven-second pass of the event put him into #3. Mark made even
more progress this round with the GTO now bagging a 7.46/198. Anthony was another to improve on his time, finally getting to grips with the Moggy, this time running
10.84 knocking over a second off this previous PB in this car. Andy Bond once again creeping up on the tune ran his first ever seven netting him a 7.90/173. Al discovered
that the truck was running out of capacity on the injectors so decided to switch back to Super Unleaded from E85 so the softer tune meant ETs were down.

Now that qualifying was complete we had a bit of time prior to the Cruise, giving teams the opportunity to check the cars over, top up the fluids and pump up the tyres.
All in hand and even time to grab a bite to eat. The teams were given a few minutes' signal a few minutes to gather at the scrutineering shed ready to parade down the track. All
gathered except for one car: Andy Bond's Chevy decided it preferred the comfort of the pits and refused to engage drive, but after a frantic rush around they managed to resolve
the issue just in time for the procession in front of the crowds. We left the track and began to meander our way down the country lanes to the fuel stop. All fuelled up successfully,
we set off once again all apart from Anthony Wilkins who was already fighting with the heat and struggled to get the Moggy started. In a last ditch attempt the car fired up and he
was able to tag on the back of the cruise. We then made our way to just outside the hot start area and were greeted with a lengthy quuee. Clearly many people were taking
advantage of the nice weather to go shopping. This was really going to test the cars as the roar of cooling fans was almost as loud as the engines! So after the mandatory stop to
allow heat soak into the engines it was time to then fire them up. Each competitor has two minutes to get the engine started and all apart from Gary managed to fire as he struggled
with battery voltage having had the fans sap a bit too much juice. Anthony Wilkins only just managed to make it back in through the gate before he had to turn the engine off due to
soaring temperatures.

Out of nine qualified we were now down to seven, who would be the lucky ones to gain the bye? Well unfortunately those who did have byes never had the opportunity to run
as when Monday came round the weather just didn't want to play, with shower after shower coming through then finishing with a torrential rain storm. Such a shame to finish
what had otherwise been a great weekend.

Our sincere thanks to Gearhead Garage, the Eurodragster.com team for attending and for all their support (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed). Special thanks
to Tony Huck and Maitland Racing, the organisers of North Weald, for hosting us.

She Devil and the history books.7th June: UK Top Methanol Funny Car racer Steph Milam, husband and tuner Dave and the She Devil team
reappeared on track at last week's FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway after twenty months away. Steph made a little bit of
history as she won the first FC v Dragster race under the new rules:

The first passes were all about getting used to the car again. We were cautious with the tune-up as we had changed the fuel system to
suit the new blower overdrive. But it all settled down nicely and we improved with every pass, finally getting back into the low sixes with
good speed.

In the first round of eliminations, with the new handicap start, I was up against Jonny Lagg in his A/Fuel dragster. I cut a good light and
took the first round of competition, an historic event. We were all queued for second round, this time against Dennis Habermann, when
the skies opened and we all got very, very wet. And that was the end of The Main Event.

We have high hopes for the European Finals so see you there, and don't forget that we will be out with the altered at Dragstalgia in July.

Many thanks to our sponsors for their continued support - NGK Spark Plugs, Torco Oil and Nimbus Motorsport - and a big Thank You
to our crew, whom we hope have dried out by now.

Swift snippets.7th June: Thanks to MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR Robin Jackson for letting us know that
a report on the Main Event FIA / MSA Pro Modified action is now available on the MSA British Drag Racing Championship web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.

Smax drills The Sarge.7th June: Only June and ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith was headed to Epping for his fourth race
of the season. After son Aidan raced his Top Alcohol FC last weekend, this time it was Smax's turn again in the Leverich Family's
Top Fuel Dragster:

It's eleven-hour drive for us so I got up at 02:30 and picked up my boy Aidan and his friend Jake, and made the border before 04:30, a beautiful drive through all the
mountains etc, a real nice part of the country. We met up with Gary, Bob, Dan and gang and got to work setting up final stuff for Q1 at 17:00. We had to be careful as we
were down to one spare head.

We were paired with good friend Dom Lagana. Aidan had me tightened in and lined up and ready to do a planned eighth-mile shot. We both did nice burnouts then
Dom was away first to a nice 3.80 run, but we underestimated the track as we shook when we pulled timing so I drove through it, but it started to spin the tyre so I
pedalled and it recovered beautifully. I could still have run through but opted to shut it off to save parts. Still we qualified #12 with a 5.20.

Back in the pits the motor was happy apart from some scuff on two pistons, so we sat out rest of qualifying and only got bumped to fourteenth. Aidan did the clutch
and Jake did the bottom end in record time while Dan and new crew guy Truitt did the heads. Great job all round, got the car ready and hit Applebees! On Saturday
we partied with the locals and went through a bunch of stuff in the trailer. I built a set of spare rocker stands with Aidan,
did an interview with Competition
Plus, chatted with Noah Stutz over at Scott Palmer's then hit Pizza Hut (✔ - Ed).

Up early for round one on Sunday, paired against The Sarge Tony Scumacher and the huge US Army team. We did our usual warm up with two huge nitro whacks to the
delight of the sold-out crowd - they lost their minds as only our team does this... see the clips on the Ant Hill Mob Drag Racing Facebook page. I also got hero cards for
the first time in forty three years, took a thousand of them; they were all gone before race day and I signed most of them. Time to go racing!

There was a long delay as our friend Terry McMillen had a real huge explosion, but then it was our turn. Nice burnouts and Aidan had said stage last as then I usually cut
a better light. I pre-staged but Tony seemed to take a while so I staged first, then I saw him stage, then something must have distracted me as I never saw the ambers I just
heard Tony launch. So did I! A horrible light, the car made a good move then I saw Tony in trouble and shot past him running 285 mph to his 270. We only ran a safe 4.20
as we hadn't done enough in qualifying to fine-tune the power curve, but a good job by Gary and a new PB speed. Unfortunately the throttle stuck as we think taking the
DJE off the car built too much fuel pressure. It quickly ran out fuel then it went bang, threw the blower belt, broke the snout and cracked the injector hat. With all this drama
going on it hadn't sunk in that I just took down The Sarge and got my first-ever NHRA round win until the TV crew bounced over to interview me. Wow! I just wouldn't
shut up and they had to cut me off!

It transpires that that is the first time a European has won a Top Fuel round since good buddy Urs Erbacher did it in 2008. I wonder if anyone knows the last time an
Englishman won a Top Fuel round (Clive Skilton? - Ed)? If anyone knows then E-Mail me at smaxsmith1@gmail.com.
We shot back to try to turn round and Ashley, Scott Palmer's girlfriend, was in our pit with a fresh blower offering whatever we needed to face Shawn Langdon. Again
Aidan and Jake had the clutch out and the bottom end apart but we had a spun number three. Truitt and Dan also had the heads off and found that one was slightly
damaged and one torched.

Gary had a spare short block so we set about changing it but we had to sort out a rack and swap everything over from the torched head to our last spare with header,
down nozzles etc and fix the slightly damaged heaf as well as fixing the two-piece intake we had borrowed off Dom which was now ballooned a bit needing all-new
blower studs and burst panels. Whilst all this was going on the explosion had cut down a chute, which I had to change, and broke our clutch linkage, which I fixed, but
we missed the call by less than twenty minutes - Terry's delay meant that NHRA was pushing like mad to get turned round. A game effort by my team had the crowd
applauding us as we only needed to drop the intake back on with the blower and do the lash. Never mind, we wouldn't have beaten Shawn's 3.79 anyhow.

We went as far as we could on the car then loaded up and Jake, Aidan and I headed back to work getting home at 03:00 after I drove nine hours straight. Had some
windows to clean on Monday and cars to fix on Tuesday. Bob is driving the rig straight to New Jersey and we are heading back Wednesday to see Iron Maiden then
finish rest of the car for Friday qualifying. Stay tuned!

Thanks to all the European fans for all the best wishes - I'm overwhelmed!

Serck Motorsport back Outlaw Anglia.6th June: The Outlaw Anglia Racers Association are very excited about yet another development within the class, the announcement
that Serck Motorsport will be the main class sponsor for 2017, supporting the class and
race teams on and off the track.

Discussions took place earlier in the year and with the help and support of both Graham Smith and Mark Gardner of Serck Motorsport a plan was put in place which
will provide professional support to the class on and off the track. The huge range of products which are now available and in stock right here in the UK will be
available for racers to order and pick up at the track, supplemented by a stock of fluids and nitrous to keep them racing all weekend.
Nearly all the teams utilise the cooling products which have been the backbone of Serck, but with the additional product lines now introduced which cover
everything an Outlaw Anglia racing team could wish for, this new relationship is a really special opportunity for both parties involved.

The class has recently launched a vibrant new web site at www.outlawanglia.co.uk where you
can find event dates and race reports, as well as fantastic videos and photos all from Callum of Pudgey's Pictures and details of all the teams including PBs
in quarter mile times and speeds.

"As this is Outlaw Anglia's twenty fifth anniversary, Serck Motorsport becoming the main class sponsor compliments and strengthens one of the most entertaining
classes in drag racing", says Colin Millar. "With Serck's help we will keep you on the edge of your seat watching these errant 101" wheelbase Fords, which have the
aerodynamics of a brick, run side-by-side seven-second passes at speeds of up to 190 mph, sometimes in the same lane!

"Come and join us at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 24th-25th June where we will put on the show that is
Serck Motorsport Outlaw Anglia drag racing at its best. See you all there!"

Swift snippets.6th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 24th-25th June. You can check out SPRC Summernationals entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625)
or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Sportsmen welcome to Jade Race.5th June: Sportsman racers are invited to the Jade
Race, which takes place at the Flugplatz Mariensiel on 14th-16th July. The event is again a National A (NEAFP) and EU Open
(FIM Europe) event:

Stemming from its roots in street racing, the Jade Race has developed over the years into a pure motorsport event.
Last year we organised the event as an official DMSB Event. The employees of Jade Race visited the DMSB Academy
in order to qualify to run a drag race and to perform to professional event standards. Along with NitrOlympX at
Hockenheim, the Drag Races at Phoenix Dragway in Bad Sobernheim, and the Speeddays in Alkersleben, the Jade Race
is one of the biggest DMSB drag races in Germany.

The entry deadline at standard rate is 2nd July; entry up to this date is €90 then afterwards €120.
For this event DMSB driver licenses, or the respective ASN license from the racer's country of origin, is
required in all classes. Those who have no license may purchase for the event a DMSB Day Licence either in
our on-line shop or at the Race Office. Details of which licence is required in which class are available on
our web site at www.jade-race.com/?page_id=333.

If a race vehicle has no car pass or SFI chassis tag then this can be done at the event. If you wish to take advantage of
this service then please register in advance on our web site at
www.jade-race.com/?page_id=2518.

I wanted to do something a bit different, and here it is: a 1690 cc three-cylinder Top Fuel Bike, based on a Triumph Rocket 3.
The non-OEM motor has been approved by the ACU for competition in ACU-permitted events, so we'll be able to race at UK National events.
We've had the motor fired on petrol and run some nitro through it and so far everything as gone better than we could have hoped. Will it make
horsepower? Will it be reliable? Who knows. We'll find out soon, but whatever happens it will certainly add a bit of variety to the Top Fuel Bike
ranks.

Sadly the years have taken their toll on my body (rheumatoid arthritis) and I am no longer capable of riding a Top Fuel Bike, so I will stick to tuning
and spannering duties. Piloting duties will be taken on by Al Smith, who also made a super job of building the chassis. Al is taking the role very
seriously – he has lost a bunch of weight and is going to the gym regularly (Lo-cal Marie Rose sauce? - Ed). Al and I will be supported by the crew
of Neill Curtis and Mark Eavers and, I'm pleased to say, the one and only Bob Brooks of Yellow Metal Racing fame.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our short list of sponsors Burlow Engineering, Team APE and Fuel Injection Enterprises (Spud Miller).
You can Follow us on Facebook at PBR Top Fuel Bike or visit the web site, which I am not very good at keeping up to date, at
pbrtopfuelbike.moonfruit.com.

See you at the races.

Shifting sands.4th June: Sebastian Lindau writes that the Sand Drag Racing
team are headed to Iceland for their first Sand Drags event of the season:

We are attending the race at Akureyri on 14th June. Because Iceland is located in the North Atlantic and completely surrounded by water
we need to take a ferry from Denmark. We started our trip on Friday so that we can be there on time.

We plan to make a few test hits on the new track at Hafnarfjörður which is close to the capital Reykjavik. Our Hayabusa will have
its first serious race in Iceland and we need to see if it does what we want. It was cool to have some fun at the race in Uesslingen, Switzerland
last September but it was not the right environment for our kind of bike. So we look forward to that and hopefully all of preparation work will pay
off.

If you want to stay updated then I recommend a look at our Facebook
page. I will post all news there.

King does Valdosta.4th June: The UK's Ian King and the Gulf Oil Dragracing Top Fuel
Bike team started kicked off their 2017 season at the Manufacturers Cup season opener at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Valdosta GA. With the team operation based out
of the impressive race facility close to Atlanta operated by ex-pat Brit and former motorcycle dragbike racer Andrew 'H' Smith of H Craft Customs, the passage to the event
relatively smooth and eagerly anticipated by the team.

Despite the warm and sunny weather, the first days of the event were blighted by high crosswinds which prohibited many of the teams, including the Gulf Oil team, from
making test and qualification runs, at least under full power for the whole quarter mile.

After no testing on day one, and despite early shut-offs in qualifying runs, the team led qualifying with a 6.190/198.96 until the very last session, finishing in third place
overall for race day just behind local favourite Larry McBride 5.925/233.16 and drag bike veteran Sam Wills 6.001/233.60.

However, whilst performing pre-race day maintenance the team discovered some tight exhaust valve guides which had been sapping the European Championship-winning
machine of full power. Having resolved the issue the team were left in a quandary – should they take some clutch or ignition lead out to compensate for this power hike, as
they had a setting to get down what was a tricky track with less than its usual degree of traction, or hope the track would come around? They opted to gamble on the track
but that proved to be a mistake when King lost traction in a big way immediately from the hit of the throttle, allowing Dave Vantine in the other lane to take the win almost
unopposed.

The team went into this weekend's next round in Memphis, Tennessee with hopes for better weather conditions and a track on which they can exploit their full potential.

The Gulf Oil Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine.
The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their participation in the 2017
USA National Championship:

APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikesBarnsdale Leisure – The UK's Premier Knaus Caravan dealerBell Helmets (UK) - The most iconic name in helmets, since 1954Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gasketsGates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulicsGoodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systemsGrand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and presentGraphite Additive Manufacturing - A leader in 3D printed technologies and rapid prototypingGulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricantsH Craft Customs - Race car preparation, roll cages, fabrication and custom projectsHotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud TirochHyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikesJE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistonsJohn and Dea Morgan Racing - The creators of the world's most advanced New Age Funny BikeKibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the marketMickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the worldMRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systemsMTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the worldNitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalistsNCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsportNGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturerPär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com
Scott Perri Trucking - Logistics solutions par excellencePortable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies availablePro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiatorsTrim-Tex - The premier manufacturer of vinyl drywall beads and accessoriesTryka LED - The UK's cutting edge LED lighting manufacturerVan Es mobility - The leading manufacturer of telematic products for management of moving objectsVanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goodsWeb Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshaftsWorldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racingZodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts

New car, new class... same outcome.4th June: Sweden's Jimmy Ålund finished off the 2016 racing season by winning an unprecedented tenth FIA Pro Stock Championship, but
This year will be a bit different for the Norrköping native.

"I will not be shooting for an eleventh Championship in FIA Pro Stock, but I will be shooting for an FIA Championship in Pro Modified", explains Jimmy. "Magnus Petterson, the owner
of the legendary Old 51 Pro Mod Chevrolet, needed a new driver for this season and contacted me. Of course I jumped at that opportunity. It's a different way of driving to my
Pro Stock car, lots more horspower and speed but a little bit less to do during the run". Jimmy will race the full Championship season in Pro Mod and plans to double duty with the
Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro at both rounds in Sweden and the round at Alastaro, Finland.

The FIA season started at Santa Pod Raceway, not only a classic place for drag racing but one of the top performing asphalt tracks in the world. Qualifying ended well despite problems
on the first run when the new combination of transmission and engine tune-up caused a blown burst panel. Jimmy rolled through the top end without power but was still good enough for
an ET of 6.30 and a #4 qualifying place. Ensuing repairs caused Jimmy to miss the second qualifiyng session but his Q1 time was good enough to stay #4 going in to the second day
of qualifying.

In Q3 Jimmy improved with an ET of 6.21 and a #3 spot in the list, even though that run included a bit of a pedal job. In Q4 Crew Chief Magnus Petersson put a more agressive tune-up
into the car and Jimmy took advantage, driving the Old 51 to the top of the qualifying list with a fantastic 6.01 at 378.67 km/h (235.3 mph). "That was of course very very satisfying", says
Jimmy. "First Championship race, new car for me, new combination of transmission, motor and driver for the team and we end up top qualifier. As good a start as can be."

The high-performance streak continued into eliminations where Jimmy took out fellow Swede Fredde Fagerström in the first round with a solid and straight 6.05 elapsed time.
The chassie and engine were set up for even more and car responded well; in E2, Jimmy took the Old 51 to another win and he scored his first five-second run, a 5.96 at 379.98 kmh
(236.11) which also turned out to the second quickest Pro Mod run of the weekend. That was unfortunately the end of racing as persistent rain caused the event to be called off.

Nonetheless Jimmy was very satisfied with his first Pro Mod Championship weekend. "Yes, of course", he says. "The whole team is elated about what we accomplished. Number one
qualifier and two round wins the first time out is exceptional. There is more potential in this new combination and that obviously includes the abilities of the driver. Every round is an education
for me".

Last but not least, Jimmy left Santa Pod in a shared points lead.

The next race is at the superb concrete track at Tierp in Sweden, on 16th-18th June. Jimmy says "We're very much looking forward to the Tierp race and I want to point out that Summit
Racing and Viking Industrimålning are sponsoring both the Pro Mod car and my Pro Stock Camaro this year as well. I'm very grateful for the continuing support from such great
companies."

Nicholson evokes Churchill.4th June: UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson says that struggling with performance affects attitude and
enthusiasm, but that working harder and smarter than before can overcome most things:

As Winston Churchill once said, "When you are going through Hell, keep walking". Well, I wouldn't say it was quite Hell, but... We couldn't get the car to repeat its performance
and I wonder why we even ran as quick as we did before. The car was ignorant to most things we tried, and coupled with smaller issues along the way things were tough.

Well, after finding our handling issue towards the end of last year I could then get the car to be a little better with its manners but we now had to try and start again with tuning
what we had performance-wise, I always knew deep down that we could get quicker than before. So we decided that in order to become better at what we were trying more seat
time and testing were needed even if it was to test all the systems live with the motor running - something we can't do at home.

So, almost blindfolded by now we set off to Santa Pod the weekend before Easter to test our luck. With the time we had, a single pass was made but we were not quite happy
with something (Dropping the chutes in front of the GantryCam was much appreciated though - Ed). Rolling on to the following week we had the same issue which forced
us to take the Bruno Drive out more than once, tiring to say the least. Having fixed the
issue we headed for Q3 and we were shut down on the line, rightfully so, but this was the point where my own energy was completely exhausted and I made the decision to pack
up and have a good think about our my racing going forward. This was the straw that almost broke the camel's back. So a team meeting was planned and we all discussed what
we should and shouldn't do, and a renewed enthusiasm was found. Oh, the leak? Yep, a five-minute fix!

So, on to testing the week before the Main Event. Again we made one pass on the Sunday and ran a very easy and conservative 6.60 at 215 mph. Now we had a little something
to start and work with.

At this point I want to mention Gareth, our eldest son. He has been very instrumental in the understanding of our data and tuning and we call the shots between us and see how far
we can het. Yes, we disagree and fall out but I guess that goes with the territory and relationship. You are doing a great job as Crew Chief, son.

The Main Event arrived and we got stuck in, ending with a 6.45 to qualify eleventh and only a few thousandths from a PB. We got through the first round of eliminations against Bert
Englefield and very nearly got a free ride through round two when David Vegter almost didn't make it, but he did and a tough match up it was. We tried too hard and had tyre shake
early in the run. Well done David, European Champion in the making.

We came away very pleased to say the least, and knowing we can start to move forward. I know we will have issues in the future, as does every team, but I believe that we are
better placed to deal with them now for sure.

Volkspower Powerfest report.4th June: Thanks to Chris Murty for sending us a report of last weekend's Volkspower Powerfest at
York Raceway:

The gates opened on Friday and there was excellent music playing into the evening. On Saturday we had our Club Wars for VW clubs, which turned into an
open RWYB session and which we will expand for 2018. We had another excellent evening of live music until late.

On Sunday the sun was baking and the track was in good form, Nostalgia Super Stock put on a great show with plenty of cars new to York
well-received by the northern spectators and racers. Eleven cars were competing for the event title. Andrew 'Boz' Bosomworth had the
perfect event taking number one spot in qualifying and taking the round win in his '66 Coronet.

Due to scheduling conflicts not all classes made it on to the track but there was time in the schedule for one of our Big Bracket events,
a simple, open-to-anything bracket race in which saw CJ's £50 Forester battled through the field and with a lot of luck he took
the win and the prize pot which was three times the value of the car!

With Monday's forecast not looking great, we brought forward Super Cup. Paul Grainger was back in the Ford Anglia after the huge wheelie
in the previous round and now with wheelie bars. Paul was number one qualifier but the top three in this heads-up race were within three
tenths so literally anyone's for the taking. Des Taylor was way too eager and redlit early on against Ben Rushforth who was back in the Jag-powered
Cobra – he went on to meet Paul in the final. Ben took the long way down the track, gifting the win to Paul. In Volks Stock, a red light from Dave
Downes in the borrowed John Maher Beetle handed the win to Andy Taylor and his Beetle.

Two-time JDM-DRC champ Phil Davison returned with a now turbo'd MX5 he reached the semi-final but was knocked out by Shaun Rounthwaite
in the V8 Lexus. Shaun ultimately lost out in the final to Peter Richardson who has been very consistent despite being a FWD car in the low elevens,
the tens just in touching distance. Pro FWD also went Pete's way, taking the win against Lee Openshaw in the UK's fastest 1.4 Punto which runs high
twelves.

With the racing finished it was the final night of live music which was enjoyed by racers, Vee Dubbers and a Minion.

On Monday the weather was drastically different. The days could have been months apart, it was cold and damp. We studied the ever-evolving
weather, tracked the rain and decided on one-shot qualifiers for all classes and we knew we had to work fast to get the finals run before the next
band of rain at 4:00 pm

HRSC – Andy Crolla cut the better light, just beating Derek Beck in the final. Pro FWD – Pete met Lee in the final, but after a long run of brilliant
lights Pete's luck ran out and he red lit, giving the win to Lee. Sportsman ET – Craig Rounthwaite had the perfect round, taking the number one
spot and taking the round win against Scott Presland in the Ford Pop who redlit. Super Cup went back out on track, as the weather was just
holding off – another win for Paul Grainger.

Pro ET Champion Lee Chiles showed why he was Champ by getting the round win in his Plymouth Valiant, beating Dave Billadeau in his station
wagon in the final. American Super Stock – George Chiles in his supercharged Chrysler Crossfire was back in the groove and getting more used
to the car, consistent 0.5 reactions helped him to take the round win, beating Duncan Beard in his Mach 1 Mustang in the final. An excellent result
for Duncan in his first season. JDM-DRC – Phil now getting to grips with the new set-up met with Shaun in the final a red light from Shaun gifted
the win to Phil.

The next rounds will be on 1st July then on 2nd it's the 40th Street Racer Championship, the original race for street-legal cars.

Aidan had been chomping at the bit all winter to get to grips with our latest acquisition, a 2010 NHRA-legal screw blower set-up with our 44 foot trailer and awning.
Aidan wanted it all in true Ant Hill Mob style. My son Ronan opened a powder coat shop last year so we stripped the car to the bare chassis and Aidan coated it
with new dye to keep it in tip top condition without rusting, but see-through enough to check for cracks! I talked to my good friend Bill Zinger from Blendtek who
kindly agreed to sponsor us for a wrap on both the trailer and the carbon fibre body. Aidan went about designing what he wanted after stripping out the windows,
wings etc and shipped the body to our great friends and long time sponsors Clearshot Customs in Brantford who not only repaired all the cracks and imperfections
but laid a stunning gloss black paintjob to finish off. Ronan flawlessly powder-coated everything Aidan could pull off the car and the golf cart and did a stunning gloss
black with gold metallic blend as well as getting golfcart wrapped black!

Engine Technology of Cambridge have been helping us for a while now so they checked through the block and decided that my splined crank was junk. They also
repaired the heads which we torched testing and checked compression etc. We were finally happy so Aidan rebuilt the motor while I degreed the cam and rebuilt the
golf cart with bigger wheels and tyres from friend Jed Snyder. Once everything was rebuilt and cleaned we picked up the trailer and Funny Car body and were amazed
at the quality of work by Creative Edge Designs. We got our methanol from Renway and plugs and sundries from McNeil's Auto. Thanks to you all guys much appreciated!
Finally we got my F350 diesel back from the paint shop the night before so I got friend Les to reinforce the gooseneck frame supports and refitted the eight foot dually
box while I put mirrors etc back. Then hooked up the trailer!

On Friday morning Aidan, Ronan and friend Josh, who does the cylinder heads, set off to get set up while I borrowed an RV and hooked up Aidans caravan then met them
at the track-the set up looks amazing! Fans and photographers were all over the car taking pics which was awesome. Friend Jake, who does our bottom end, showed up
then we finally got ready to fire up and a crowd gathered! It came alive no problem but we had too much fuel at idle. Normally I would have tried adjusting the barrel valve
but we had sent all our fuel system to the guru Jon Salemi at Resolution Racing, he had found our problems from last year and hopped up our deal so I didn't want to mess
with anything until I could get our flow meter working to get some data. I checked our barrel valve at 92% and checked with another screw blower Funny Car guy and it
was the same so I started doubting that our cam was in correctly. So we ended up going through all of that until finally we were finally happy. It was correct all along but
the fuel issue still there. We decided to do a burnout and try to qualify with a 300-foot squirt so I could watch the pipes and see if the motor cleared the excess fuel,

We got everything else ready. Aidan did a stunning burnout and I was gobsmacked how good the car sounded! He pre-staged and brought the RPMs up over 6000, the
pipes cleared and it launched hard. Aidan said it shook so he plugged second but it shook again so he pedalled and shut it off and it still ran a 7.90 at only 128 mph.
Wow, what a rocket ship! We were all ecstatic - great job Aidan! A quick turn-round, no damage but found that the wheelie bar too low as we had it apart to powder
coat so that was why it shook and unloaded the tyre. An easy fix along with rewiring flow meter and finding out our crank trigger didn't work as it was a quarter inch off
off the magnet. We really needed the data and now just the tach was not working from the MSD grid.

We towed down for Q2 and Aidan did a quick burnout. The RPMs shot up and stopped. All gauges good but Aidan went to bring the RPMs up but it wouldn't rev.
The throttle cable was OK so we switched off and pushed back. I saw the blower belt was loose so I lifted body to retighten but quickly saw that bottom blower pulley
had stripped all the bolts. Damn!

Back to the pits where had I had a spare pulley and bolts so retapped threads ready for Q3. It was a bad day, cold and a bad cross wind so racing was only an eighth mile and
there was also a bunch of crashes to dampen things.

We drew last year's Champion. Again Aidan did a stunning burnout but the extra nine thou of fuel I added, as air had got so good, meant more fuel coming out of pipes and
the start line crew shut him off. I ran over and explained that all was fine and that Aidan would hold the RPMs up and clear the pipes so we went to re-fire, but I hadnt realised
that Aidan shut off on the mag, not fuel, so without backing the motor down one turn of the starter resulted in a bang and a hydraulic... bummer.
Back in pits we found we had a bent pushrod but got away with any other damage.

Sunday was forecast for a washout. My youngest Azzy had rented some DJ equipment so cranked the music we and partied till the wee hours with a bunch of racers.
A great first weekend! We will pull the motor and go through everything with a full clean ready for the Nitro Nationals on Canada Day, 1st July. Watch this space!

At Epping this weekend racing the Top Fueller then Iron Maiden in New Jersey next Wednesday followed by NHRA at Englishtown. Busy boy!

Swift snippets.4th June: UK Comp Eliminator racer Robin Orthodoxou asked us to thank all those who showed interest
in his altered and helped with parts and knowledge to get the car running properly at the FIA / FIM Main Event."You know who you are and all your input is gratefully
received", said Robin. "We had some interesting conversations and the team hopefully left with a better understanding of what the bloody hell is going on and what
we would like to see happening over 1320 feet."

Last weekend's FIA / FIM Main Event included an invasion of EDRS Pro MC drag bike racers getting in some pre-season
action before their Series kicks off at Tierp Arena in a couple of weekends. You can read more courtesy of our good buddy
Remco Scheelings, on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

Swift snippets.3rd June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 24th-25th June. You can check out SPRC Summernationals entry list by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625)
or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

The FIA have published an invitation for expressions of interest in organising and promoting the FIA European
Drag Racing Championships from 2018 to 2020. You can check out the tender invitation on the FIA web site at
www.fia.com/invitation-tender.

Daughter Anne Barker and son David Wilson asked us to say a big Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary
to Dave and Linda Wilson. Our pleasure, and our congratulations to Grumpy and Linda.

We only have limited availability, and we already have more applicants than we have spaces for, so unfortunately we can't accommodate everyone. However
we will be offering spaces to those with the most relevant vehicles to the event. If you would like to be considered for a space to run in these sessions, please
send an image of your vehicle, summary of its history if applicable, and current Personal Best to 2017@dragstalgia.co.uk
by midnight UK this Sunday, 4th June, as places will be offered on Monday.

Swift snippets.2nd June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 24th-25th June. You can check out SPRC Summernationals entry list by
clicking here. Today (Friday) is the official closing
date after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a late entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC
web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about
SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-FIA / FIM Main Event points standings
in the 2017 UK National Drag Racing and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

UK Junior Dragster racer Adam Bentley has been in touch to thank those who helped him at the FIA / FIM Main
Event. "On Friday I had no crew, so Richard Bell and Chris Redshaw very kindly offered to help me", says Adam. "Also on Saturday Scott Hauser and Dan Block fixed an
oil leak with parts lent by Andy Fensome using tools borrowed from Team Extreme and the Hales family. I am very grateful for their help."

Santa Pod Racers Club Pit Marshal Caroline Boncey aka Oscar asked us to Thank You to everyone who sponsored her in the 5K Bubble Rush for the Hospice of St Francis.
"I raised £700 for the Hospice", says Caroline. "Oscar has the biggest smile ever! I am feeling very greatful to everyone who helped me to raise the money."

Also grateful is Eurodragster.com Pit Reporter Simon who says that the weekend's collections for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Benevolent Fund, of which
Simon is a Trustee, raised £777.16 for the charity. "We are grateful to all donors for their generous support", says Simon. "Anyone who wasn't able to donate at the track may do so
on-line at mydonate.bt.com/donation/start.html?charity=189025. There will also be auctions
of memorabilia later in the year, and you may also donate by purchasing a Bob McClurg poster of legendary Fuel Altered racer Willie Borsch, which are available for £10
from the Signing On office at Santa Pod."

Longtime race fan and Eurodragster.com supporter Andy Kitson took his movie camera to Santa Pod on Sunday and made a spectator-side film from both sides of the strip and the pits.
You can take a look at Andy's movie at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJjlhEQchL8.

Event entry update.1st June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 24th-25th June.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the official closing date after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a late entry penalty. You can download the
official entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about
SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

FIA/FIM Main Event snippets.1st June: Nicola Stubbins of Protek Racing tells us that she found this glove at Santa Pod
Raceway on Monday and would like to return it to its owner. "Sometimes things are special to some but not to others", says Nicola. "I
found this glove next to the pit bike park in the pairing lanes when we all scattered after the rain started. I asked a few in the pits when the rain died down
but everyone said no. I'm quite happy to send it to the owner or they can have it back at the Summernationals". If this is your glove then drop us a line at
editor@eurodragster.com and we'll put you in touch with Nicola.

Many thanks to Palle Lind for forwarding us the post-event points standings in the FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships.
You can take a look at the FIA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored
Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking
on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Thanks also to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from the FIA / FIM Main Event, which you
can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the
left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted two FIA / FIM Main Event reports on the Autosport.nl web site. As ever there is a
race report which you can check out by
clicking
here and a report of "Other things I saw" which you can check out by
clicking here. Don't worry if you can't read Dutch
as it is pretty clear what is being said and of course the pictures are great.

Paul Bryan has posted a gallery of excellent spectator-side and pitside FIA / FIM Main Event shots on his Flickr site and you can check those out at
www.flickrcom/gp/paulbryan_photopedia.

On behalf of the whole Eurodragster.com team, a big Thank You to everyone who sent feedback on our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
FIA / FIM Main Event week coverage and Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam over the last week and a half or so.
We have received some very kind E-Mails, postings and text messages all of which have been seen by the whole team. We also particularly appreciated
everyone's patience when a power issue took out the webcam PC for a couple of hours. Thank you again.

Editor's note: Astute readers will realise that your News Editor is shagged out from the race week and thus that there is a backlog of
news with which we will catch up over the next couple of updates. We always have room for more, though, so please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.

No records were broken although Anita Mäkelä and Duncan Micallef contested Europe's quickest side-by-side
1000-foot Top Fuel Dragster race beating the previous best by 0.0001 seconds. Europe's first staggered-start Top
Methanol Dragster v Top Methanol Funny Car race under the new rules was won by Steph Milam in the She Devil FC.

Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for forwarding us the post-event standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships.
You can take a look at the FIA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored
Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking
on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored FIA / FIM
Main Event reports, results, pit notes and galleries by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

Time to mark Lindström's prep.24th May: Swedish Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström has had a spectacular career so far
but he says that we should wait and see because 2017 will be even better:

2016 was a great year for our team. We managed fourth place in the Championship and we did that in style because we only attended
four out of six races and only used the spare engine. Our team also got a little bigger so this year we will bring two small new team members
who will experience the world of drag racing for the first time. They will be in our pit at the Main Event so please stop by and visit Jaxson and
Freja, the new future young guns.

Team R/T bought a new engine from AJ last year but as planned we didn't use it until the last event at Tierp. There it made a 6.56 run right
out of the box and has never been run since then so we feel confident that we have the power we need to win. But power isn't everything,
power and speed are merely for bragging rights. What count on the track are ET, reaction time and of course tuning. You need to be humble
all the time and never let your guard down because someone will run you over if you do.

It's not easy to get a Pro Stock car to leave the line and make good numbers. There are so many things which must be adjusted and calculated:
weather, gears, carbs, shocks, weight, four-link and third member. I have been racing in Pro Stock for some years now and I am just starting to
figure out some things. But then you come to another track and it has all changed. We made the
save of the year at the 2014 European Finals... we lost the
round, had to repair the car and change underwear for the driver but we ended in style anyway. But I must say that I absolutely love driving a
manual 1500 hp race car. Straight or all over the track, it doesn't matter!

At the first hit at the Main Event we'll see whether we did our homework properly over the winter or whether we need to go back to the drawing board,
Lets see if we have done our winter homework at the first hit at the Main Event or whether we need to go back to the drawing board.

2016 was also the year that Nina and I made the decission to buy Sweden's, and perhaps one of Europe's, biggest drag racing magazine, Street&Strip.
The first issue is already out and number two is in the working process right now. The stuff about which we will write inclides the FIA and FIM Championships,
tech articles, NHRA stars, dragracing from the 1970s and 1980s, bad-ass cars and of course a lot more. The magazine sells in stores in Sweden, Norway and
Finland and is mostly written in Swedish but if the pressure gets too much we might do it in English.

There will be six issues a year to begin with and that will hopefully ground the public's interest in drag racing. Thats is one of our goals with the magazine,
to raise the value of the sport. Not much printed media writes about drag racing but we will! You can of course support us and the drag racing comunity by
subscribing, or why not advertise as company or promote your team and sponsors with a feature.

If we get bigger and get more funding then we can make even more pages and more issues and buy in more articles. That will make the sport more visible
and it will be easier for organisers and teams to get more sponsorship which will raise the bar even more. So its a win-win situation for sure. Most racers
cry that they need more sponsors so now they can do something about it. The strange thing is that some of the racers want the magazine for free and are
seeing the big picture. We are not in this for the money, we are in this because we love drag racing and want to do something about it (Welcome to
our world - Ed).

If you have any questions about the magazine then please E-Mail info@ntlmedia.se.

Tooren's long lists.24th May: Many thanks to our good buddy Remco Scheelings for forwarding us a preview of the 2017 season
for Dutch Pro Modified racer Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch Racing team:

The Main Event kicks off Michel Tooren's second season as a driver. After an extremely successful 2016 with two runner-up finishes, number four position
in the MSA British Pro Modified Championship, a stunning personal best of 6.005 seconds, and the title SPRC Most Promising Newcomer, Pro Dutch Racing
are looking forward to their second season with Michel behind the wheel of the '71 Plymouth Barracuda.

It is a bit too much to say that the Pro Dutch Racing '71 Plymouth Barracuda is a brand new car this season, but the list of changes and new parts is almost
too long to mention. But let's give it a try.

First of all the engine will have new heads designed and fabricated by Post & Dros Racing Engines & Parts in The Netherlands. With the new heads, there
also had to be new pistons and connecting rods. Except for the block itself, almost everything inside is new. With the different size of the heads, the spark
plug cables and all of the hoses also had to be renewed. The injector is also new. As the rear axle gave some problems at the end of last season, a new
billet rear axle was ordered from Tim McAmis Race Cars, the builder of the Cuda. With all the adjustments the team had to make to the four link, the back
of the car is almost brand new and as it was when Tim McAmis delivered the car. To reduce some weight, there is a new carbon fibre wheelie bar. And to
complete the list there are also new Weld Racing rear wheels and new lexan windows. The gearbox was also checked and rebuilt over the winter. There
are no fewer than eleven new sensors in the car, including on the carbon fibre wheelie bar.

Because many parts didn't arrive in time, Pro Dutch Racing had to skip the first race of the season at the Festival of Power, which was round one of the
MSA British Pro Modified Championship. As it will be almost impossible to win the Championship after missing one round and losing the potential bonus
points, Pro Dutch Racing have changed their original plan to contest the British Championship and will now go for the full tour in the FIA European Pro
Modified Championship, something on which Michel had his focus from the first moment he started his racing career. The team will only rethink this plan
if there are serious problems at the Main Event.

The Pro Dutch Racing crew will be the same as last year. Jaap Oonincx, Leon van der Linden, Anton Vink, Arjan van Bemmel and Jan Selles are back again
and the same can be said about Alexander Durinck, Bianca Booij and Wim Verkerk, the three team members who work a bit more in the background. Benjamin
Selles, Jan's youngest son, is new to the team. Benjamin joined the team for a few races last season but will be a full time crew member this year.

Last but not least, Pro Dutch Racing moved over to a new workshop at the end of last season. They can now store the race car and truck-trailer combination
indoors and have a separatedengine and fabrication room.

Pro Dutch Racing will arrive at Santa Pod tomorrow (Thursday) and will try to make one or two test runs at the Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day.

Swift snippets.24th May: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-Race, Rock'n'Ride points standings
in the 2017 UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

The thefts are creeping up again and the FIA / FIM Main Event is approaching so just a reminder that, unless you are one of the very
few parties with standing permission, you must not copy text, pictures, results, race
reports, points standings, webcast video or anything else from Eurodragster.com. The primary consideration here, as anyone with a
brain should realise, is that our sponsors have the right to expect our information to be viewed in its proper place accompanied by the
banners for which they have paid. We have the right to expect our hours of hard work to be viewed in its proper place and
not purloined and posted elsewhere by shabby thieves. Share links by all means, but if you take our work without asking then it is only
going to end badly for you.

A testing weekend.24th May: The UK's Robin Read has been in touch with a report on the testing of his blown-nitro V8 Daimler dragster at Race, Rock'n'Ride:

The first run went pretty much according to plan. The sixty foot time was, but it rattled the tyres so we took some weight off the clutch for the next full pass.
It soon became apparent that this change was wrong - in hindsight we should have put more weight on. We either over-revved the motor in the burnout or at the
launch, I shifted into second hoping that it would calm things down, nope! Two lash caps on cylinders three and five had come off during the valve float and the
poor motor was hurting from then on. The exhaust valve clearances were then way too wide, changing the valve timing on those two cylinders. They ran lean and
burnt the plugs.

I should have got off the throttle then, but wanted to make a full pass because we had hatched a plan with Brian Cross' family to pack some of his ashes in with the
parachute and give him a drag racer's send off. If you look at the run footage you'll see him go! So job done there, but we had sustained some damage to the valvetrain
and clutch. We decided that the best plan would be to return to the workshop to inspect and repair before we ended up wounding the car a lot.

There were some positives to take away from the test. We had been suffering some excessive main bearing wear and had increased the oil pressure and made changes
to the oiling system to create a priority oil flow to the main bearings. Results of preliminary inspection are extremely promising. Hopefully we can get in another test day
before Dragstalgia.

FIA/FIM Main Event Perfect Awards.24th May: This weekend's FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the
2017 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £175 is on offer for perfect performance.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed
at Race, Rock'n'Ride. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all
classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100
for the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the SPRC Summernationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association
with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried.
Eurodragster.com decals are available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been increased to £100 after it went
unclaimed at Race, Rock'n'Ride. The Award will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second
on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super
Street and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won this weekend
then the Award will be increased to £125 for the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50
for the SPRC Summernationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Gold RV in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at
www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one
on each side of the vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion;
we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are
available in the Signing On office.

FIA/FIM Main Event coverage.24th May: The Eurodragster.com team will be at Santa Pod Raceway from tomorrow (Thursday) to
bring you all the news from the FIA / FIM Main Event in association with John
Woolfe Racing.

Our coverage commences with tomorrow's Pro Peak Performance Day from which we will be posting a live report throughout the
day and a photo gallery at the end of the day. From Friday until Monday we will be posting real-time results and reports on
the on-track action throughout each day together with pit notes updates throughout each day and a photo gallery at the end
of the day.

The Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be
on-line tomorrow, Friday and Saturday then the Trakbak Racing / Track Group Europe Web TV takes over for Sunday and
Monday. We will be broadcasting live video and trackside audio tomorrow then live video and commentary / Nitro FM audio
on Friday and Saturday. Thanks to Doyousee.me for provision of
streaming services.

We will post a Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences tomorrow, but in the meantime you can check out our
FIA / FIM Main Event coverage index, which also contains links to the final official entry list and provisional running orders, by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

The official closing date for the SPRC Summernationals is Friday 2nd June after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a late
entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Curbishley gets a Fix.23rd May: UK Super Comp racer Martin Curbishley is delighted to welcome on board Fixauto.com
as a main sponsor for this weekend's FIA Main Event:

We have been working closely with Fix Auto Penzance putting together a sponsorship deal which hopefully will take us through to the end of the 2018 season.
Stuart Cameron, Managing Director of Fix Auto Penzance, is excited to be working with Martin Curbishley and Paul Marston Racing and to be part of such a prestigious event.
"This is our first foray into any kind of motorsport sponsorship and to choose drag racing over any other circuit based motorsport made a refreshing change", he says.
"We understand that Martin has a good working relationship with Paul Marston Racing and the Drag Racing School and that he had success in 2010 wining the UK National
Super Comp Championship. To go rounds at the Main Event is their goal.

"This is what Fix Auto is all about. Fix Auto is a Global collision repair franchise with repair centres in the UK, Canada, USA, France, Turkey, Australia and South Africa, and
continues to build on high standards and quality, ethics and performance across the world.

"We are no ordinary bodyshop. An automobile collision is a big disruption in your daily life, everybody values continuity and keeping things moving along smoothly. Fix Auto
understands this, which is why we offer the convenience of one stop shopping. Fix Auto not only handle your vehicle repair, but also the processing of your claim.
Any repair undertaken by a Fix Auto bodyshop is guaranteed for life across our network, no ifs, ands or buts. With us, you're choosing the route of security and peace of mind.
The Fix Auto lifetime guarantee is endorsed by a network stretching across the UK. Wherever you are, you're never far from worry-free service at a recognised repairer.

Maurischat seeks a smooth ride.23rd May: German Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.comp sponsor
Marco Maurischat opens his season at this weekend's FIA / FIM Main Event
and says that his race operation will stay in the UK for the rest of the year:

We will run the MSA British Drag Racing Championship this season. Because of the pressure of running my Cerakote
Ceramic company PBN here in Germany it's way easier for us to fly back and forth instead of driving the truck to every race.

We haven't made any big changes to the race car. We will run a new shock system which we hope will improve our sixty foot times as well as the stability of the car at the top end.
The engine is the same Lindberg Brothers Hemi which we first ran last year. It's a great engine, at lastyear's UK Nationals we ran 6.13 with a set-up which was not all that aggressive.
So we are pretty sure that we can improve this number with a more rideable suspension and shock set-up.

We will be at the Pod for some test runs on Thursday.

Our sponsor remains the same, our Cerakote Ceramics High Temp and Firearm coating brand. Thanks to Mike Strasburg from B&J Transmissions who gave us some great help
on transmission parts.

I'm looking forward seeing you all at the track.

Laseur's narrowed rear end.23rd May: Having taken the 2016 title, FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike Champion Gert-Jan Laseur decided it was time
to step up. Consequently he will be contesting FIM Europe Supertwin this year:

My whole life revolves around Harleys so a Nitro Supertwin was of course the only option. The week after the European Finals I heard that Chris Hannam had his
one-year-old bike for sale. After a call we sealed the deal and I sold my Buell to my friend Charly Abraham two days later.

The bike lifted the head at the finals and that is how we took it. I rebuilt the engine, changed the transmission to an Owens two-speed, made some mods to the clutch, changed the air system,
added a chute, put a shorter tyre on the rear, made the seat smaller for my little ass and moved the pegs.

We still have Eurol Oil as our main sponsor, and Zodiac have stepped up seriously in their support. Big thanks to Paul and Petra for their support and of course my crew Patrick and Sander
who have worked their asses off. Special thanks to Jonnie Vickers and a lot of thanks to Marius van der Zijden for being a great mentor.

The only problem we have is me. I have to learn to drive this animal and my first ever run will be at the Main Event!

Swift snippets.23rd May:Steph and Dave Milam and the UK's She Devil Racing Top Methanol Funny Car team
say that the FC is clean and ready for the weekend. The team are pleased to announce continued sponsorship from NGK, Nimbus
Motorsport and Torco.

UK Comp Eliminator racer Robin Orthodoxou is pleased to announce
Ziebe Förch as a new sponsor for his 2017
campaign. "Ziebe Förch can supply all your consumables, pit and workshop equipment", says Robin. "We are also grateful
for the continuing support pf Hauser Race Cars and Blackett Photography. Thanks also to my team - Crew Chief Darren, Catering Manager Tracey,
Motivational Speaker Jake and Sheep Rustler Darrell - for all of their hard work preparing the altered. See you in six seconds."

Nick Brooke-Langham says that the UK's Gasser Circus Showdown will again be contested over five rounds in 2017. "We start the season at Shakespeare County Raceway
this weekend, and will conclude at the same venue at the Hot Rod Drags in September", says Nick. "This weekend we have fourteen Gassers entered, and after a long winter lay-off we are all raring to go."

Frøya's Paul Ingar Udtian will be contesting FIA Top Fuel Dragster next season. You can read more at
wwwfroya.no.

Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the post-Race, Rock'n'Ride points standings
in the 2017 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at
www.kingracing.com.

Many thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from Race, Rock'n'Ride, which you can check out by
clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of
any Eurodragster.com page.

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Benevolent
Fund(see below) is appealing for volunteers from the ranks of Junior racers to help shake a bucket, with adult supervision, at
this weekend's FIA / FIM Main Event. Collections will take place on the spectator bank and in the pits at 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday and Sunday
and at 10:00 and 13:00 on Monday, event timings permitting. Collections should last for a maximum of an hour and collectors will be lent secure
charity buckets with BDRHOF Benevolent Fund signage, a BDRHoF shirt to wear during the collection, and an ID badge to identify them as an
official part of the collection. If you would like to play a part in making the collection at any of these times, please get in touch with BDRHOF Benevolent
Fund Trustee and Eurodragster.com Pit Reporter Simon Groves at simon@eurodragster.com
or via Facebook.

Gibbs receives HoF Achievement Award.23rd May: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
and Lucas Oil Products UK are pleased to announce that long-time NHRA Vice President
and drag racing pioneer Steve Gibbs is to receive the 2017 BDRHoF Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. The Award will be presented later this
year at the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner at the historic Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge, Surrey on 18th November.

Those of you who were at the Gala last year will know that Steve attended the event to accept the 2016 Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award
on behalf of the National Hot Rod Association. But early in 2017 Steve shocked the drag racing community when he announced his retirement
from the NHRA after forty eight years. At the time Steve said "I will be eternally grateful to Wally Parks for the opportunity to do the
things I did, and for so long. I'm proud of the fingerprints I have left on the sport. But it's time to move on."

In truth, Steve's fingerprints are more like huge footprints and this year he is attending the BDRHoF Gala to accept the same award, the
difference being that this time it is for the work and commitment which he personally has shown to drag racing since the late 1950s. It
is Steve's name on the Award and you will have to look a long way to find anyone who doesn't think that he is most deserving. On hearing
that he was to receive this award Steve said "This is all a bit overwhelming. I will be extremely honoured... humbled... and eternally
thankful to accept the award. It would mean a great deal at any point in time, but is particularly rewarding at the present moment. I
cannot adequately express my heartfelt thanks to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and the date is circled on my calendar."

Although probably best known as a former NHRA Competition Director and for re-establishing the NHRA Safety Safari Programme, and refining
track preparation, Steve Gibbs started his involvement with drag racing in 1961 when he became a part-time official, with a wide variety
of duties including track reporter for Drag News and Drag Sports Illustrated, at San Gabriel drag strip. Between 1965 and
1968, Steve managed Irwindale and Fremont Raceways.

In 1969 Steve was hired by Wally Parks at the NHRA and he remained there until this year. Initially he was Advertising Director for the
NHRA's National Dragster Magazine, but within six months was promoted as Assistant to Jack Hart running NHRA events. In 1973 he
became Competitions Director and later Vice President of Competition where he managed approximately four hundred NHRA National and Reunion
Events during a forty eight-year career. Many of the safety developments in place at NHRA events that continue to today are attributed to
Steve Gibbs and his Safety Safari team.

In the early 1990s Steve formed NHRA Historical Services and in 1992 he helped launch the first California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield,
a living history bringing to life the sights and sounds of the early days of drag racing, with the proceeds of the original meeting and
subsequent Reunion events going towards the creation and maintenance of a Drag Racing Museum, to be based at Pomona, which opened in 1998.
Its first Executive Director was of course Steve Gibbs and he remained involved in the Museum and the Hot Rod Reunions from his retirement
from full-time NHRA activity in 2003 until early this year. He was inducted into The Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall Of Fame in
2006 and, at the age of seventy seven, he remains committed to his calling. He is now involved in organising Nostalgia Events in his own
name so the sport has not lost his amazing talent and enthusiasm.

Steve says "My goal is to follow many of Wally's original concepts of the sport, and to provide events that celebrate and respect our rich
drag racing and hot rodding heritage."

Someone once said that if the California Hot Rod Reunion had a face it would be that of Steve Gibbs. It is for his long and tireless service
to the sport of drag racing along with his extensive expertise that Steve Gibbs has been awarded the BDRHoF Lucas Oil Global Achievement
Award. We thank him for the role he has played in creating our sport and wish him well with his future plans.

Morgan Lucas, Senior Vice President of Sales for Lucas Oil, said "We are so pleased that a trophy with our name on it is being presented
to someone whose commitment to drag racing goes back to the very early days and his positive influence on so many aspects of our sport
will act as a guiding light for others in the industry. He has played a leading role in laying the foundations that have served drag racing
well and will continue to be part of his legacy. We thank the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for enabling us to be part of honouring Steve
this way. You have chosen well."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk
or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes
a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the
occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT
as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published
on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on
Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The fund is run for drag racers by trustees who have had many years' experience in the sport: Stu Bradbury, Simon Groves, Robin Jackson,
Ian Messenger, Graham Beckwith, Ian Marshall and Phil Cottingham. A bank account has been set up and a BT MyDonate internet fund-raising
page is now live at mydonate.bt.com/charities/bdrhofbenevolentfund.

The BDRHoF would like to thank all those who have so far contributed £1,518 so far. Trustee, Treasurer and Eurodragster.com Pit Reporter
Simon Groves said "Many thanks to all those who contributed at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala last November, and Santa Pod Racers
Club, Avon Park International Racers Association and Pennine Dragway for further contributions."

Fund-raising efforts in 2017 will be focused on the key events with BDRHoF presence: the FIA / FIM Main Event (see above), Dragstalgia
and the FIA / FIM European Finals. Look out for the gold logo. As mentioned above there will be bucket collections along the spectator bank and
at the Nostalgia marquee on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday at this weekend's FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. Collections will
be announced by the Track Announcers at an appropriate point in proceedings. Please give generously by placing cash in the donation buckets.
The BDRHOF Benevolent Fund is grateful to Santa Pod Raceway for granting us permission to raise funds in this way.

There will also be collections at BDRHoF events and through corporate giving by sponsors. The overall 2017 target is £10,000 which
will give the BDRHoF resource to make a sizeable grant to those in need.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Race, Rock'n'Ride
reports, pit notes and galleries by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Please join Tog in a big Thank You to Grace, Kirstie and Simon for their hard work on the event coverage.

Main Event snippets.22nd May: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones and team are more confident than ever that they will be serious contenders for the FIA
Championship with the improvements made to the Rune Fjeld Motorsport dragster. "We plan to run the full season", Liam told Eurodragster.com. "We have better cylinder heads, an
improved fuel system, and the car has been front-halved. Paint and sponsors remain the same, with one minor adjustment - we have new logos on the canards for the Movember foundation:
a charity for which our photographer Nicki, my friend Joe Taylor and I will be scaling Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2018. Luke Williams will be joining Gary Page on the bottom end."

Swedish Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonny Lagg and team have done a lot of work on the car in the off-season. "The dragster has a new back frame
as the old one was badly twisted", said Jonny. "Krister Johansson working on a new engine and clutch set-up to get rid of our tyre shake problems. We have also
got some weight off the car as we have been 140 lb too heavy for a few years now. Our main sponsor 76 Oil has changed to Phillips66."

Swedish Pro Stock racer Bengt Ljungdahl plans to test at Santa Pod Raceway to continue successful testing at Malmö. "We got what we needed and
quickly found time in the run and in the pits between races - we were very pleased with what we were doing", he said. "We have made some minor
updates which we believe will take us forward. We will contest the whole series and our aim is to take home the European title. We have a joint venture
with VP Racing Fuels by which we have the agency and market their products in Sweden. The car looks the same with the addition of the sponsor
decal on the door."

This week's FIA Main Event will be Swedish Pro Stock racer Robin Norén's first visit to Santa Pod as part of his first full season. "We made some small
updates to the car over the winter after testing our motor for this season at Malmö last September", said Robin. "We were very happy with the results of that test.
I want to say a big Thank You to my Club Jakobsbergs Bilsport Förening who support me very strongly. It's going to feel really funny to race at every event this year and
that would not have been possible without all our fantastic sponsors. Skandinaviska Teknik & Smörjsystem, Snahr Production, Blenco Speedshop, A3 Design,
JOMS Entreprenad, SixPack Custom, Turebergs who have all continued from last year and new sponsors Westers Mark & Transport, Teknik Service, Bygg & Kakelarbeten."

Fellow Swedish Pro Stock racer Simon Gustafsson says that the team hope that they have sorted out last season's engine problems. "The engines have been at Allen
Johnson in the USA for service and updates", Simon told Eurodragster.com. "We tested in Malmö last weekend with times close to our Personal Bests. We are looking
forward to coming back to Santa Pod this year as we missed last year's races due to the engine problems. Mikael Sjökvist is our Team Owner and Crew Chief, Jan Jönsson
is doing the engines and we have two new guys, Göran and Tommy who help out wherever needed. Our main sponsors are CHM Maskin, AXS Nordic and Glas & Bygg and a big
thanks to them, we really appreciate it."

Swift snippets.22nd May: Not exactly a spy picture but one which we were requested to post and which we
present without comment. An amusing (and repeatable) caption to editor@eurodragster.com
may win you some Eurodragster.com goodies, though.

Lizz and Kev Charman and everyone at Nitrous Junkie asked us to say a big Happy 18th Birthday to
Jake Charman. "We are very proud of you Jake", says Lizz. Have a great day Jake.

Web site updates.22nd May: Thanks to our good buddy Steve Moxley for letting us know that his Festival of Power and APIRA
Springspeed Nationals reports are now available on the ACU web site at
www.acu.org.uk.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from Saturday of the APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare
County Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

"I've always wanted to do a Jurassic-themed race car, ever since I was racing Junior Dragster myself", Nick told Eurodragster.com. "When I asked Luke last year what
he wanted on his dragster, his reply was "I want Jurassic World". Well, it didn't take me long to say "Hell Yes" to the idea! I immediately got in contact with good friend
Peter Walters of Peter Walters Race Design to make some temporary decals for Luke's first year. They turned
out brilliantly and Luke was pleased with them, we would always be stopped in the fire-up road by families asking about the car after their kids were attracted by the dinosaurs.

"Starting this year I contacted Pete again to evolve the design into a full vinyl wrap to complete the transformation. The result was this fantastic design!

"Paul and the guys at Paul Foote Ink did a great job of producing the vinyls and
turning the car round. I'd never had a wrap done before and I've got to say it's awesome. We took the dragster to PFI on Thursday morning
and got it back yesterday afternoon so thanks to them.

"Good luck to the rest of the Junior Dragster teams... unlike the dinosaurs we don't intend to break out!"

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking here or by clicking on the
John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Super Comp
and Al's Gasser Super Gas Shootout racers please note that your Sunday and Monday running orders have changed since being sent out.
Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 21:00 on any day of the event. Before 09:00 vehicles should
be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not ridden. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish to raise any
matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see Race Secretary Kathy Taylor who is based in
Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate
Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com
staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

Faster still Fil.19th May: Greece's Filippos Papafilippou goes into the 2017 FIM Europe Top Fuel
Bike season with his plans already set for 2018 as he will step off his brace of six-second PXM Bikes
and climb on board a five-second Top Fuel Bike.

"2017 will hopefully be an easy-going and hopefully calm year for the 300 Spartan Warrior team
before I jump on the King Racing Top Fuel Bike in 2018" says Fil.

"The PXM bike is as it was after the win at the 2016 European Finals. We have not made any improvements or other changes over the winter,
just the minimum service and maintenance.

"The team's strategy this year is to study all our best runs since 2013 and to see what we can do to improve our PB of 6.54 and to maintain our
already high level of consistency. We know that the bike has the power and the potential to run numbers below the mid-sixes, but we still
need to research such an achievement. We do have the world record quarter mile speed for a nitrous PXM bike of 206.17 mph and we have
backed that up many times, so we know that we have the power to get the bike in the 6.4s or even the 6.3s and become more competitive
against the five- and low six-second nitro Top Fuel Bikes.

"My team is supported and sponsored this year under a strong brand shop, DragStore
EU, and we are all looking forward to this new co-operation.

"We are also looking forward to having a great year and many more ahead of us, especially in 2018 on a real nitro-fuelled bike with the support
of the King Racing team.

"We will have two almost-identical nitrous PXMs in the Dragstore truck this year. They are almost clones and both are mid-six machines.
We are presently looking for a capable and reliable driver to rent the second bike and race it, hopefully in the sixes. It is a great opportunity
for someone with the experience and ability to jump on a six-second machine and feel the noise, smell the nitro and live the magic of
FIM Top Fuel Bike. If you are interested in racing our second bike then please enquire via the
DragStore EU Facebook page."

From Stavdal to Santa Pod.19th May: Multiple FIA European Pro Modified Champion
Micke Gullqvist and his
newly-augmented team spent the off-season constructing then moving in to a new workshop, but are
now getting ready to retrieve record-holding blown-alcohol Camaro, close the door of the trailer,
and travel to England.

"I'm very pleased with how the workshop turned out", Micke told Eurodragster.com, "even if it's not completely finished. Right
now we're doing the last jobs to be ready for the FIA Main Event. The car is race-ready and this week has been on display at one
of our partners, Stavdal, who have opened another new rental centre for construction equipment.

"The team has changed slightly for this season with the addition of Kenny Steibert and Alex Kunc. I think we are pretty well-prepared
to get after it when we need to. Between seasons I always try to find something between to improve upon and I always have an idea
of changes to speed it up a bit. However sometimes the weather forecast is shaky and we just need to play it safe and qualify well.
But whenever the conditions are good and we are firmly qualified, we'll get after it."

Main Event snippets.19th May: Åland's own Pro Stock Bike hero Fredrik Fredlund was
able to sum things up for Eurodragster.com very succinctly. "I don't have anything new, I will
not test before the Main Event, and the plan is to run the FIM Championship!", he said. Questions
anyone?

Hussain Al Shammari told Eurodragster.com that his humungously-motored nitrous-assisted Pro Modified
Camaro has reached the UK from Kuwait. "We made a couple of changes to the car including alterations
for unleaded fuel", he said. "If the weather helps then I hope we can run 5.7. That's the plan."

Reigning FIM Europe Supertwin Champion The Netherlands' Martijn de Haas says that although close runner-up Samu Kemppainen is
not contesting FIM Europe Supertwin this year, he realises that the other teams will provide tough competition. "The Zodiac boys have made some
impressive improvements, Gert Jan Laseur has a very serious
bike, and Roman Sixta is getting stronger every time we race him" says Martijn. "So over the winter we made changes to the fuel system and clutch:
more fuel to improve on the last hundred metres and changes on the clutch to improve our sixty foot times."

Regular readers of Eurodragster.com will understand the circumstances of the announcement that Sandro
Bellio will replace dad Danny Bellio in the Danny Racing Top Methanol Funny Car. You can read more
on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

The track was very well-prepared by Lee
Child of the GB. The Top Doorslammer cars were able to make runs in the 3.7s and 3.8s. It was very
windy on Friday and Saturday but nice and sunny with almost no wind on Sunday. We had six qualifying runs.
With the spectators there was a nice atmosphere.

Bernd Foit D on 2700 V-Twin 5.877/193, problems with the gearbox as the main shaft bent

Jorg Braune D on 2000 V-Twin 6.093/184, very consistent runs

Peter Niklas D on Turbo Honda 1000 SP 6.101/209 bent an exhaust valve

Sven-Ole Schleichert D on V-Rod 6.299/176

Not qualified was Matthias Rasmussen DK on 2400 V-Twin 6.387/179. This was Matthias' first run on the ex-Piet Verhoef Top Gas Bike. After the second run Mattias braked
heavily in the shutdown area and crashed, broke his left elbow and the bike was also heavily damaged.

E1: Schack 4.754/232 bye run - Schleichert out at the start with an electric al problem. Jolink 5.555/194 bye run - Foit with the gearbox problem. Jolink was wheelying every time he shifted
gear, for the next round the team put the wheelie bar a little lower. Malmberg 4.882/222 bye run - Niklas broke. Lymant 4.967/231 def. Braune 5.974/181.

School's in.18th May: Paul Marston says that his Drag Race School
is already busier this season than it was in 2016:

This is a healthy sign for the great sport of drag racing. We have already been at the track with the doorslammers this year and we have
had interest in dragster courses too, with a couple scheduled over the next few weeks. So the Drag Race School will be a more regular sight
at Santa Pod in 2017. There is also a healthy resurgence in the Race Car Rental Scheme, with no less than three drivers at the FIA /FIM Main
Event, plus myself.

Add in UK Top Sportsman and the No Prep event at North Weald and it all adds up to an exciting 2017. If you are interested in anything which
the Drag Race School has to offer then please visit our new web site at
www.paulmarstonracing.com.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Topspeed
Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mark Todd at the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer
at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying
and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be
increased to £75 for the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM
Main Event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the APIRA
Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in
or index. The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or eliminations in 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ET Bike and Junior Drag Bike, but will
only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be
increased to £100 for the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM
Main Event. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold
RV in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one on each side of the
vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next
person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On
office.

Web site updates.18th May: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with
Gearhead Garage Paul Marston brings us up to date with the
construction of his twin-turbo Cortina. You can take a look by clicking
here or by clicking on the Gearhead Garage Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Straightliners Events was established over twenty years ago by Trevor Duckworth. Its ethos was to make motorsport, sprint and speed events
more accessible to motorcycle enthusiasts by removing much of the red tape yet retaining the safety and all other aspects of a motorsports
which enforced rider and spectator safety. It has opened doors to thousands of motorsports enthusiasts and spawned a cult following of not
only motorcycle fanatics but also the car tuning fraternity.

Trevor has spent forty seven years in the sport and holds twenty seven World Records and numerous British National Records over a quarter
mile, kilometre and mile on both two and three wheels. His Straightliners Events business continues to grow and is now involved with a range
of meetings which encompass Championship Sprints, Drag and Drift meetings and Speed Events. The venues include Santa Pod Raceway, East
Kirkby (Lancashire Raceway), York Raceway, East Jurby on the Isle of Man (right), Elvington, Pendine Sands, Dakota Raceway in Devon
and Spitfire Raceway in Cornwall.

Trevor said "There is a great deal of cross over between those attending Straightliners Meetings and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
Gala Awards Dinner. Many of its members compete at our meetings and of course drag racing in the UK grew out of sprint and speed events.
Both organisations celebrate the roots of drag racing in our different ways and we are pleased to add our support to what has become a fabulous
occasion with the spotlight shining on the sport's pioneers."

BDRHoF Limited CEO Brian Taylor said "It's always good to welcome a new sponsor - particularly one which has broadened the opportunities
for sprint and speed events to take place throughout the country. Straightliners meetings provide a key entry point to the sport, being accessible
from Yorkshire to Cornwall and Wales to the Isle of Man. They also give out-and-out drag racers the chance to try out other forms of straight-line
motorsport. Looking back, many drag racers went to Bonneville in the USA and people like Dennis Priddle, Clive Skilton, Tony Densham and John
Hobbs all set records at Elvington. Today, quite a few of our two-wheeled drag racing legends find the more relaxed atmosphere of these events
a welcome addition to their drag racing schedule and very useful for final tuning. The Gala could not exist without sponsorship and I thank Trevor
for his support."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk
or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes
a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the
occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT
as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published
on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on
Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

For those entered in ACU and UK National competition, Santa Pod Raceway's gates will now stay open until 22:00 on Friday (was
20:00). This applies to those with racer tickets only, whether you have already received them through the post or will be picking them
up at the gate.

If you have any queries then you can contact Santa Pod Raceway on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).

Roadworks near SPR next week.17th May: Neale Saunders of Santa Pod Raceway tells us
that roadworks are being undertaken near the track next week:

On Wednesday 24th May Wymington Road, in the area of Podington village, will be closed for re-surfacing works
(map). Diversions will be in place
to help you round the closure. The council have assured us that works will be suspended over FIA Main Event weekend so access via this route will be restored for the duration
of the event.

Anita's bid to scare Stig.17th May: Reigning FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Anita Mäkelä has been in touch to let
us know how things are shaping up for 2017:

L-G of ME Racing Services has put a brand new front end on the car. I remember when Thomas Nataas said how good his new chassis was to drive; maybe
our chassis was getting a bit tired as it was restless at high speed at the top end.

We have invested in AJP Stage 7 heads. We have kept the Stage 5 heads as spares because you can still run decent numbers with those. But most of the tracks
are taking more and more power, so it was a high time to use Stage 7s. Another good reason for the investment was that the guys were getting closer and closer
to our European record. I will be surprised if the current record remains after the Main Event or the Tierp Internationals. All of the Top Fuel racers on the Main
Event entry list can run below four seconds so the racing will be tough.

We will have Nitro Ninja Dom Lagana and Jake Sanders with us. I know that once I say those names Stig is shaking, right Stig?

We will arrive at Santa Pod next Wednesday and make a test run or two on Thursday.

The car looks the same. There is no new paint just one new decal, TF1, which we shall try to keep on the car.

Phoenix Dragway arises.17th May: Our good buddy Benni Voss tells is that "The best German Dragway which no-one knew about" is now history,
but that the phoenix has already risen:

Diggers have torn up the famous taxiway of old US airbase in Bitburg. This track had been operated by 1on1 Motorsport since 2002 and countless runs were made
on the unprepped but grippy track. Many Personal Bests were set there. 1on1 Chair Silke Beer was not amused to get the final "No" from the authorities only
weeks before the first race in 2017, but she maintained a poker face because she had an ace up her sleeve.

Long-term negotiations were ramped up and now German Sportsman racers are looking forward to the weekend of 26th-27th May when they will set their SatNavs to
Industriepark Pferdsfeld where a new quarter mile will be inaugurated on this former air base and recent GM test centre located closer to the Rhine-Main area
and Ruhrgebiet with easy access to the nearby autobahn nearby. Phoenix Dragway will rise from the ashes of Bitburg: for more information visit
www.1on1-motorsports.de or look at their Facebook page.

Swift snippets.17th May: Swedish Pro Stock racer Stefan Ernryd has a new main sponsor for 2017, Dico by
Belgetti who provide finance solutions for contractors and their customers. "The Dico by Belgetti Dodge Dart is going for the full
Tour in the FIA Championship 2017 as PRO 5", says Stefan. "We tested at Malmö this past weekend and we are now loading up for the Main Event
at Santa Pod."

Thanks to Bianca Booij for sending us a season preview from Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch Pro Modified team. You can check out
the Dutch-language PDF by clicking here.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com brother-in-law Tom Atkinson, to Sweden's
leading Fawlty Towers afficionado Anders Envall, and to Nick Mugridge. Have a great day guys.

This is one of the nicest drag races in Europe with a good start crew, a very good concrete track and friendly Czech people. We had a lot of luck with the weather, just a
few drops of rain but the track dried quickly.

Qualifying:

Markus Laur D home made Turbo Suzuki. 8.308/268 kmh on Friday night the team changed the engine because of a broken gearbox main shaft

E1: Lauer bye run 9.770/186, crossed lanes but not a problem when you have a bye run as you only have to leave the start line under power. Raeymakers
8.141/251 def. Petranek 8.983/234 kmh. Bajer def. Sevara 9.858/216new Pb for Savera, he was ferry happy. Jolink 8.750/237 def. Braune 9.483/224, RTs
Jolink 0.139 and Braune 0.272.

We are going back to Hoskovice for one day on 15th July and then again on 2nd-3rd September.

My Ducati 1198 RS bike has a new special paint job (right) by Cees v d Bosch of Moto Paint, Kruisland, and I have sponsorship from Putoline Motorcycle Oils and
Premier helmet from their Dutch importer IGM Trading. The Ducati Panigale-1 bike is moving forward,
it is not easy modifying the engine.

Swift snippets.16th May: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Steve Ashdown asked us to say a big Thank You to Geof Hauser and
all at Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Race Cars for all of their
help in getting all of his fire safety equipment sorted for the Undertaker FC, and to Simpson
for their great equipment as usual.

Sixteen go to No Prep Nats.16th May: Paul Marston writes that a sixteen-car field is already assembled for the inaugural running of the No
Prep Doorslammer Nationals at North Weald Drag Strip on Sunday 2nd July:

This will be the first of its kind on UK shores as far as we are aware. With £1000 cash up for grabs for the winner it's going to be brutal! The format is simple:
eighth-mile, first to the stripe wins, no ETs or speeds, no prep, random pairings all the way other than call-outs first round. There is simply no way of telling who will
win as it has never been done before. All I can tell you is that you will see some great close racing.

We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Mick Pusey and Gearhead Garage who
are supplying T-Shirts to all of the entered racers as a token of their appreciation. Gearhead Garage are a sponsor of many forms of drag racing, including title sponsor
of the 2017 SPRC Super Pro ET Championship, Eurodragster.com and UK Top Sportsman. Mick has also been known to compete himself and will feature in UK Top Sportsman
later in the year. Gearhead Garage specialise in locating American pick-up trucks, parts and American cars. So if you're looking for something American it's worth checking
them out.

"We will make it" says David, driver and driving force behind PTTM Drag Racing who have been amongst the frontrunners in FIA Pro Modified. "Finally we have
all the parts we were waiting for and we can start building again. The Main Event finally kicks off the Championship on Saturday 27th May and I'm really
looking forward to the coming season."

After the season kick-off in England, David Vegter and his team PTTM Drag Racing will travel to Tierp Arena, Alastaro, Hockenheim, Tierp Arena again and then back to
Santa Pod Raceway where it all started.

As a result of the closer co-operation with sponsor and partner PedalToTheMetal Musclecar Performance, the name of the team has changed to PTTM Drag Racing.
The changes in the crew are less dramatic. "Gerard, Willem, Johan and Elin are back for another season", says David. "Nik will help us in the workshop, but has no
time to come to the races. After a one-year break, Gijs is back in the crew and will be with us at three races. Last, but not least, I will tune the '67 Camaro again".
Last season at Tierp Arena David broke the six-second barrier for the first time with a stunning 5.958 seconds and ended the FIA European Pro Modified Championship
in fifth position.

The team are working around the clock to get their operation ready for the Main Event. "Unfortunately not everything went according to plan", says David. "Last
week the last parts arrived, and finally they sent us the right ones. We can start assembling the engine and we can finish the rebuild of the car which was stripped
and updated over the winter. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we will make it. I'm really looking forward to it. Last year was extremely busy and hectic but
this time we will focus on the FIA European Championship and nothing else. There are twenty three entries for the first race of the season and several teams will do
the full Championship tour, so competition will be tough."

New for this season is the team's truck and trailer combination. "After many years, we had to say goodbye to our team bus", says David. "A trailer is so much easier
for the ever-increasing number of race parts and other stuff we have to take with us. We bought the trailer from another race team so we didn't have to change that
much. It's in the paint shop at the moment but the decals will be in the right place before the Main Event."

Longtime loyal partners WVB Holland and HKR Techniek have extended their partnership with the team, and the PTTM Drag Racing '67 Camaro will also be supported
again by Sonic, DutchBoxx Golfkarton and PTTM Musclecar Performance. Red Line Oil Scandinavia is the team's new lubricant partner for 2017.

Swift snippets.15th May: Defending EDRS Pro Top Fuel Bike Champion Thomas Pettersson (Funny Bike) and Super Street
Bike racer Robert Häggblom, collectively Team 817, have tested in what Thomas says was a cold and rainy Sweden and
are now getting set to travel to Santa Pod Raceway for the first rounds of FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike and the FIM Europe Super
Street Bike Cup at next week's FIA / FIM Main Event. "We are looking forward to this season and our efforts to place ourselves in the the upper half",
says Thomas.

The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left)
came with the words "Life... uhh... finds a way". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then
drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Lee Huxley of the UK's multiple Championship-winning Cando, Top Banana and Dark Horse teams tells us that on old friend
will be paying a visit on the Sunday of the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. "The visitor is the one and only
Top Banana Roadster (above right)!", says Lee. "It does look a bit different now but still has a stance. I
built this car in 1988 with a little help and it was raced until sold in 2008. The current owner uses it on the road when
possible. It will be parked in the Dark Horse pit area on the Sunday if anyone wishes to see it again."

If you are planning to tune in to our Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsportwebcast from
this weekend's Race, Rock'n'Ride at Santa Pod Raceway then please be sure to read the important message about the broadcast
as you pass through the webcam landing page. Any queries indicating an omission
to read the message may incur an unimpressed reception from a busy coverage team.

Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race
Cars tells us that he availed himself of one of the new roll-up banners offered by Eurodragster.com decal sponsor
Paul Foote Ink and that he was very impressed. "The banner duly
arrived in the forty eight hours promised and it's absolutely great", says Bob. "Top quality and top service". You can find
out more on the PFI web site.

When Smax out-qualified Brittany...15th May: After missing out on qualifying for the Four Wides by 0.02 seconds, ex-pat Top Fuel Dragster
racer Smax Smith and the Leverich Racing team decided to contest the following weekend's NHRA National event in Atlanta as
with sixteen teams entered they were guaranteed to qualify and to make up for the money lost in Charlotte. Smax writes:

The forecast was dodgy for Friday (The trick is not to look - Ed) but looked good for the rest of the weekend. We drove over four hours to Detroit
Airport taking Mark Morris from the Patons' team who was off to help Scott Palmer on clutch. Sadly we were missing Aidan again as work deadlines beckoned.

We hoped that we had addressed our dropped cylinder issues by restripping the blower... we found out why top teams restrip every two runs! We had quite a
bit of work to do after our the damage to the heads. I rebuilt the rocker assemblies, mixed the nitro, set the clutch pedal and did the chutes whilst Jake got stuck
into the heads as the bottom end was ready. Torrence's guys helped us out with blower rotor bearings and Dave Richards gave us a rocker shaft.

It was raining on and off on Friday but we fired up and Gary did a couple of nitro whacks. I commented it seemed flat and I suggested checking the lash whilst I
checked the nitro percentage and found we had dropped an exhaust valve. Damn! We put our spare head on and discovered our geometry was getting borderline,
which happens when you get old used parts and keep repairing them! We got it all done and headed to Jeff Diehl's Nitro Funny Car pit for a pint before heading to
Applebees with Jake as Gary and Bob went back to Atlanta Airport to pick Dan up. We hung out with Jim Dunn's guys and the amiable Jim Campbell.
Up for a good brekky then back at the track Jake started rebuilding our last shaky head and got ready for Q3 as Q1 and Q2 were rained out.

We paired with Bob Vandergriff Jr but we only planned a squirt to make sure that we left on all eight cylinders. I wasn't going to try to cut a light either as we
as needed to check that our stupid brake issues were addressed. We did a perfect burnout (6300 rpm) and our new guy Truitt let his girlfriend Kristen don
boots and back me up perfectly. I did a good launch on all eight and shut it off to qualify #15 amazingly ahead of Brittany Force.

We turned the car around and as Gary downloaded Racepak he discovered that discovered that the DJE we took off actually returned forty gallons so it
was a good job I shut off after a second and a half! It was an easy fix for Gary and we were all ready for race day. We sat out Q4 and I watched Brittany
from the start line expecting her to bump me to #16 but she instantly smoked again so stayed #16 herself. Force has all that trailer set up and little us
outqualified them!

We headed out to a Mexican near the track for pints and nosh then Jake and I went back to the track to hook up with Scott Palmer's crew. I've gotta
give a big shout out to this amazing team. I feel they took us under their wing as not only did they restrip our blower rotors but they gave us a pair of
slicks and a bunch of oil.

Up early and a drive-through brekky on raceday. We did last-minute stuff on the car and were ready to face good friend Steve Torrence. He was on
rails having run two 3.738s so thought it best not red light as the only way we were going to win was if he smoked or blew up, which of course he didn't
but we looked good on TV! Weirdly we dropped #5 cylinder but the motor was happy and the belt stayed on. We ran 4.41/270 on seven cylinders but
we were confused why. This thing is ready for a three at three hundred if we can keep all eight lit.

The turnaround revealed we had dropped another exhaust valve at the hit, bummer. We suspected mismatched keepers and retainers but more on that soon.
Still, mission accomplished we did qualify and we addressed the tune-up side of the dropped cylinders, plus Atlanta was the only track at which I had failed to
qualify (by five minutes).

The next outing is at Englishtown in two weeks with Aidan our new screw-blower Funny Car, hooking up with Iron Maiden... watch this space.

Swift snippets.12th May: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"Old Fords never die and may resurface this weekend!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Graham, Leong, Emery for BDRHoF Gala.12th May: The British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame have announced that US legends Marvin Graham, Roland Leong and Dale Emery will
join the regulars at November's Gala, courtesy of supporter
DialAFlight:

Part of the multi-million pound Lotus Group and protected by both ATOL and ABTA, DialAFlight is in its thirty sixth
year of trading. They organise travel for over 450,000 people every year and the business has become the BDRHoF
Official Travel Partner during 2016-17, helping to fly in the many drag racing legends who now attend the event.
DialAFlight has three hundred travel managers. Working closely with their major travel partners in all airlines, car hires
and hotels, they can tailor-make itineraries suiting individual needs to virtually any destination in the world from a
first-class round-the-world ticket, to a European city break or maybe arrangements to get you to the USA for a
major drag race meeting. And, as the name suggests, DialAFlight does not believe in operating an on-line transactional
service but instead offers customers the opportunity to book over the phone which is a more efficient, friendly and
customer-focused experience.

Full details about the company can be found by visiting
www.dialaflight.com, or why not telephone Travel
Manager Bobby Tuggey on 01732 592997 or E-Mail
bobby.tuggey@dialaflight.co.uk.
Bobby says "We are proud to be supporting the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner again. The
evening was a fabulous affair last year and I am already looking forward to the 2017 event. It has been a
great privilege to organise travel for some of the greatest names in drag racing who attended in 2016 and
again this year. In fact we now arrange travel for many businesses involved in the sport and have made lots
of new friends and it has been a thrill to be involved with team transport supporting the Havoc Fuel
Altered Tour of the USA."

So who from the USA is joining the party to celebrate our own drag racing pioneers this year, those whom
we can announce today, anyway? For a start we have BDRHoF Honorary International Ambassador and the
most successful driver of the twin Chevy-engined Freight Train Gas Dragster, Bob Muravez (aka Floyd
Lippencote Jnr) who is returning for a third year. Then we have Gigi Carleton who is President of the Margie
and Robert E Petersen Foundation which supports the world-famous Petersen Automotive Museum in Los
Angeles as well as several cancer research and childrens' charities. Gigi is joined by SEMA Hall of Fame member
Gentleman Joe Schubeck, the drag racer who started Lakewood Products.

Long-time former NHRA Competitions Vice President and Nostalgia Supremo Steve Gibbs is returning, as is
one of America's most popular Funny Car and Top Fuel Dragster drivers and tuners Ed 'Ace' McCulloch. One
of the BDRHoF sponsors, Ron Hope, is joining us again after a very successful world tour with his Fuel Altered
Rat Trap, and we also welcome back Blue Max Funny Car tuner Waterbed Fred Miller. Both are Honorary
BDRHoF International Ambassadors.

World-renowned and award-winning automotive journalist, author and photographer Bob McClurg will again be with
us hosting the Bench Racing Session and we will also be joined by three Gala first-timers. The first is Top Fuel legend
Marvin Graham (sometimes known as "Marvin Who?"). Marvin was Technical Advisor on the film about Shirley
Muldowney, Heart Like a Wheel. The second is chassis builder, Top Fuel Dragster driver and Funny Car
Crew Chief and Tuner Roland 'Hawaiian' Leong. Finally we will be able to welcome Dale Emery who first visited the
UK in 1976 driving the Chadderton and Okazaki Vega Funny Car. Along with many other achievements he went
on to become Crew Chief for Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Funny Car.

Bobby Tuggey says "There are more legends to be announced but their names must remain a secret for a few
weeks yet. Once again it is going to be quite a drag racing CelebFest: a unique occasion to talk with drag racing
pioneers from both sides of the Atlantic and a fitting tribute to those who helped grow drag racing this side of
the Atlantic."

The 2017 BDRHoF Inductees will be announced on Eurodragster.com during Dragstalgia weekend at Santa Pod
Raceway on 14th-16th July and will be presented with their awards at the Gala in November.
The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk
or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes
a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the
occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT
as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published
on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on
Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking here or by clicking on the
John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to
change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event. Before 09:00 vehicles should
be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not ridden. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish to raise any
matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see Race Secretary Kathy Taylor who is based in
Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate
Commentary when their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com
staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

Swift snippets.11th May: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers
Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-29th May. You can check out the FIA / FIM Main Event entry list by
clicking
here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.

The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"About time we had a proper paintjob again!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Kerryane van den Berg writes that Shark Attack Racing's Tonnie van den Berg will be contesting his first Championship round
in FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike at the FIA / FIM Main Event. Shark Attack are looking forward to seeing what the bike, built by
Eurodragster.com sponsor Psycleworkz, can do.

Eurodragster.com sponsors Racepak and Post en Dros have extended their partnership in Speedgroup's contingency programme for 2017.
You can read more in the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

Editor's note: Apologies for the lack of a news update yesterday. Your News Editor did not have the requisite server
access where he was located.

More tributes to Phil Cornish.11th May: We were very pleased to receive more tributes to Phil Cornish, who died last week.

Sam Freeman writes: I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Phil last week. Despite not seeing other very often, whenever
we did it was like it was yesterday, the mark of a true friend. We first met at Santa Pod when Clive Skilton roped me in to help with
refuelling the ex-Kuhl and Olson Car. Don B and Phil were both involved with preparing the car at that time. I spent many weekends staying
with Phil and his family in North Harrow either to help on the cars or when arriving back late on a Sunday night. Phil was without doubt
one of the most knowledgable engineers I have the pleasure to meet and a great asset to any team he worked for or advised. Rest in Peace
my friend. My sincere condolences to Bernie and Phil's family.

Bunt and Dinah Willcox say: We have known Phil since the seventies through drag racing and his move to Bridport. We became close
friends with Phil and Bernie sharing several holidays to California with them, and the most memorable visit to Las Vegas to be witnesses
at their wedding followed by a trip along Route 66. We shared many experiences and moments of laughter. In the last few years Phil was
happiest at home with Bernie and his animals, and passed away at the place he loved most. Lots of love to Bernie. RIP Phil.

UK Top Sportsman update.11th May: Paul Marston writes that entry forms will be available at the FIA / FIM Main Event for JT Construction UK Top
Sportsman, whose two races will be contested at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 28th-30th July:

This is the roughest, toughest, hardest-fought, richest, no-rules, no holds barred, Heads-Up and Fast Bracket Sportsman Doorslammer drag race of the year.
This year John Tebenham returns, stepping up as title sponsor of the event as well as posting a hefty prize fund bonus for the winner and runner up in the Heads-up
race. This is in addition to posting travel money €100 for any European competitor who wants to race with us. Many thanks Jon! There is also the usual JT Construction
UK Top Sportsman prize money to fight for.

There has been a fair amount of rumour mill stuff going on regarding who is entering and what have they built. Remember: other than safety there are no rules, no weight
limit, no cubic inch limit, as many power adders as you can spell! This really is the event where, for once in the year, you really can throw the kitchen sink at it. The track
will hold it - MSA Pro Modified run at this event so you know the track is National Event standard.

With an average of a thirty two-car field there is a lot of track action and a lot to play for. For more details E-Mail
pmdragracing@gmail.com, call me on 07831 650230 or search for UK Top Sportsman on
Facebook.

Feature: Famous names in France.9th May: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is a gallery of Christian Bailly's
historical shots from France kindly sent to us by Perry Antoniou. Perry writes:

Most people know how I am involved in a lot more than drag racing. A few years ago I became Chairman of the Sunbeam Lotus Owners'
Club. We have close contact with several of the key participants of the Sunbeam Lotus Rally cars of the 1980s and these include the drivers,
team and even the media people involved as well as the current owners of the remaining two hundred and fifty cars and eleven Works cars.
Sitting in our archives are things like Jean Todt's Contract of Employment with Chrysler / Talbot Competitions Department (£11,000
per annum as co-driver in 1981).

One of the great guys of the time and closest friends of our little French FIA friend is Christian Bailly, known to those around at that time as
French Chris. At the time Chris was on the payroll as Team Photographer to Chrysler / Talbot. After those golden years of rallying, he moved
on to Citroen who at that time got involved with drag racing. Chris gave me a set of pictures from his personal archives to share with my drag
racing family.

James Oliver is the proud owner and driver of this 1973 Pontiac Firebird which two years ago was metallic blue with a faded white interior. It is
destined for Pro ET then in due course will receive an engine swap so that it is a full-on NHRA-legal stocker.

It goes without saying that everything is immaculate on this car, which was painted by OCS Paint. Dan Williams built the 454 ci race engine which has registered way
more than 700 bhp on the dyno. The car made its first test runs over the weekend and went straight into the very low tens, with more testing next weekend. Expect
to see this car run mid nines and, although the team will try and calm it down, the trademark wheels-up launches will probably appear at some stage this year.

James will be making his racing début at the FIA /FIM Main Event so please visit the team in the pits and check out the latest build.

The PMR quartet.9th May: Paul Marston Racing are very proud to announce that no less than four National Champions will be driving for the team at
the FIA / FIM Main Event, contesting four classes in all. Paul writes:

Our driver line-up has an international flavour once again with the return of ex-pat Tony Morris. Tony will be competing in Super Gas in the 100% Pure Whoopass
Chevy Monza. Tony currently drives Bruce Guertin's Ford Fairmont in NHRA Division 2 Super Street, attending the NHRA National event at Atlanta prior to flying over for
the Main Event.

Second on the list is Martin Curbishley who will pilot the PMR Miller four-link dragster. Martin is very comfortable with the dragster having previously driven it to
victory in Super Comp, and he will again drive it in Super Comp this time. It will be great to have Martin back with us.

Third in our line-up is our very own Mick Howling, who fits quite comfortably in the Miller car as it has a bigger cage than our previous S&W dragster plus he has
lost weight. In fact Mick insisted before we even bought the Miller dragster that he try the cockpit for size to make sure that he could drive it! It will be simply
fantastic to have Mick behind the wheel again and now in a Super Pro ET dragster instead of a doorslammer.

Finally I will be driving the Monza in the Super Street double-header. This will be the first time that entrants in Super Street will be able to enjoy two eliminations at
a UK National Event. Santa Pod Racers Club and Santa Pod Raceway are hoping to expand this to other classes in future but for now it is just Super Street.

Along with his expertise, Tony Morris will be bringing over a Lightning Performance alcohol Dominator carb especially built for the Monza to sharpen her up for
Super-class throttle stop racing. For more details of this, and any questions you may have, pass by the PMR pits over Main Event weekend.

After five years racing the Mustang, fun but frustrating, a new project was needed. It had to be a shoebox, Big Block,
twin-turbo 'real' car with original chassis number and very Rock and Roll. I've always had a passion for the shoebox
Chevy and already have a really clean Nitrous assisted '55. I wanted the new car to stand out from the other 'polite'
cars in the pits so the idea of the Ugly Sister was born.

There are a few select companies who have helped turn the heavy old timer into a genuine street racer. Thanks to
Martin 'Brain' Kerr of Tubeworks Custom Fabrication, for being committed throughout the build with innovative
designs and amazing fabrication skills; Nick Davies and Rob Loaring of ICE Automotive Racing Engines / Rooster
Racing Equipment who have sourced, supplied and built an awesome engine and drivetrain and supplied us with
knowledge which cannot be bought; Nick Williams of OCS Paint for great preparation and paintwork in super quick
time; Neil and Jacob Melliard of Prosign whose brilliant vision and incredible airbrush skills have totally nailed my
idea for her image; and Mark Harrison of Owen Developments for providing the wizardry that is Motec.

It's taken six years to build up my pit equipment, persuade a seasoned crew to reform and find the right car. I
reckon there are ten years left in my drag racing career and I'm gonna make them count! I've assured my ever-supportive
wife that this is the last car ever, but if anyone hears of a blown '57 Pro Mod let me know.

Swift snippets.8th May: No sooner do we reveal one spy picture than another arrives, this one without words.
If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Swift snippets.7th May: The week's "Barn find" spy picture saga concludes with one final shot from our mole. If you know more,
or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Many thanks to our own Simon for calculating and posting the post-APIRA Springspeed Nationals points standings in the 2017 APIRA Ultimate
Power Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Web site updates.7th May: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the Festival of Power at Santa Pod
Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

Since the first Junior Day, held in 2013, almost 13,000 spectators have attended the event with over £9,000 being raised for various charities.
Our chosen beneficiary for 2017 is the Helping Harry Trust based in Daventry.
Harry suffered severe brain damage after a traumatic birth and as a result he now has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy along with many other
complex needs.

As always, the track action is dedicated to the Junior racers and an entry form is now available for Junior Dragster, Junior Funny Car and Junior
Drag Bike racers wishing to take part on the day. The entry form can be downloaded (PDF format) by clicking
here. Racers will need to telephone the Santa Pod office on 01234 782828 to book their race voucher (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). There is
a sign-on fee of £20 which will go towards the Helping Harry Trust.

Swift snippets.6th May: The week's "Barn find" spy picture saga contines with another shot from our mole. If you know more, or if you
would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Smax at the Four Wides.6th May: Just before strapping in for this weekend's Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta, ex-pat UK Top Fuel
Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch with an account of his weekend in the Leverich family's Top Fuel Dragster at last week's NHRA
Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte:

On the Wednesday night I had couple of pints and hit the sack at midnight as I was going on the long drive to North Carolina with Aidan and Jakena. At 5:00 am I woke up and
dashed down thinking I'd overslept but it was 1:30 am! I was really excited to be going to the 4 Wides again. I went back to bed until 4:00 am then set off on our epic journey
through West Virginia and the Virginia Mountains to North Carolina for 6:00 pm. Gary and Bob had driven the rig down but blew a driveshaft when they got there, so they put out
a Facebook plea for help and Jess from Simpson sent her dad Bill with a 2016 truck on loadn whilst Bob's truck was fixed. Amazing cyber family or what! We took beers over to
Scott Palmer's pit and visited Wayne Butler on Samsel's A/Fuel team - we bought our new alky Funny Car off them for Aidan, more on that soon.

After Gainesville's brake problems we still had air in the system so we proceeded to bleed brakes but ended up taking the caliper apart to service it so I at least had a pedal.
I borrowed bigger chute bags off Dave Richards' Funny Car and we were all ready for Q1 on Friday.

We were in the quad with Ike Maier, Chris Karamasines and Shawn Langdon. I was pre-staged and saw The Greek roll the beams so they backed him up again, we had been
running for ages so I was hoping it wasn't me who would stage first and time The Greek out but he eventually staged! I shot away with a 0.080 light but 300 feet out it kicked the
tyres, put the car sideways and threw the belt. It also had a hole out at the hit! I qualified #15 with an 8.0/75 (better than yhe 26 mph at Gainesville!). The track temperature was
hot and air not great so we sat out Q2 and got car ready for Saturday. It was great to have our Aidan back as he is such a machine doing clutch then helping everyone else! Jake
did the bottom end in pro time whilst Dan and TJ did the heads and Gary's brother Dan did the fuel. We spun the blower to 44 % and Gary put another tenth compression in the
motor and added his timing curve. Troy Coughlin from Kalitta's team asked us to scrub their new tyres - the big teams know the tyres perform better after one run - so we fitted
their new rims and tyres which would help us on this hot track. We then went to Steak'n'Shake for supper and went back to the motel.

Up early, went for brekky at the Waffle House then went to the track and adjusted throttle stop and last minute stuff. We let Scott Palmer fire up first as he was pitted by us and
he now does a big nitro whack, as does Del Worsham since he went independent again, then we fired and Gary did two huge nitro whacks to the delight of everyone. It should be
mandatory! That warm-up got us over 10,000 hits on Facebook alone. We sat out Q3 and watched the Pro cars, amazing being in the stands at 4 Wides but many teams struggled
in the heat. Terry Haddock bumped us with a 4.40 run.

When we returned someone must have complained to tech that our blower mainfold was outdated and they said that we had to get another for Q4. Huge panic as the car was
ready to go. Huge thanks to the amazing Laganas as Dom loaned us his spare and Bobby tracked us an AJ manifold for Atlanta this weekend. The boys thrashed and we fired
up with no issues. We made it down to face Leah Pritchett and Scott Palmer. We did out burnouts but I had issues which transpired to be a failing master cylinder. I pumped
the brakes while Aidan guided me in to pre-stage but the car rolled into stage. Aidan beckoned to the crew to push me back so I let go of the brake but they didn't push me so
it deep-staged! I hit the fuel shut-off so had to wait for the pump to recover for a few seconds so I left after the other two. It was an ugly run - it dropped a cylinder at the hit
again and rattled down to a 4.42 so we missed quailifying by two hundredths of a second. Bummer! We also shredded the belt, I guess the smaller pulley allowed the belt to
catch the belt guard.

Back in the pits crew thrashed to get ready for Atlanta. Although the block and crank were fine one head was toast and there was slight damage to the other. It also damaged
a couple of pistons, snapped an exhaust rocker and bent the intake shaft but luckily didn't hydraulic. Gary sorted what we needed to do, so we loaded everything up and decided
that Bob would wait around until Monday to watch the car count for Atlanta as we really needed to get the qualifying money to survive! When I wrote this there were sixteen
cars so we decided to go.

We hung around the Palmers' pit to party on Saturday night before Wendy's and bed. It was great to meet Bob Bode and Aidan and I had pics with him then went to say hi to
Del Worsham and chatted with Cruz Pedregon. There are lots of highs at NHRA!

We decided to get brekky and drive back to Canada on Sunday morning as we would have another few days off this weekend. We are ready for our first three-second and
300 mph thousand foot pass - we just need to go down on eight cylinders!

Good Luck and stay safe to Smax, and to Jonnie Lindberg (Fuel Funny Car) who is also contesting this weekend's race. You
will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress on the Drag Race Central web site at
www.dragracecentral.com and on Smax's and the Lindbergs' Facebook
pages.

Off to a flyer at York.6th May: Chris Murty writes that the UK's York Raceway
hosted Rounds 3 and 4 of the Pennine Drag Racing Club's Championships last weekend:

Some cars made their début this weekend and those new cars had to find their feet quickly. There was a strong crosswind causing havoc for some racers.

In American Super Stock Kris Thoburn took number one spot In qualifying, but was asleep in the first round and lost to Dave Billadeau in his station wagon. Dave
went on to take the round win against 2016 Champion Lee Chiles. In JDM-DRC, Shaun in the V8 Lexus was number one in qualifying but was also asleep on the line
and Peter Richardson in the blue Civic took full advantage. Peter went on to win the round, meeting CJ Murty in the final in his £50 race car. CJ dialled in 18.0
and Pete an 11.4. Despite the excruciating wait of over six seconds, Peter cut a great reaction to take the round win. Pro FWD was the perfect round for Peter Richardson
and the Civic taking the number one spot and the round win against Stephen Ray in the Astra van who in over-eagerness ran a red light in the final.

In Super Cup, Nigel Preston was on top of the qualifying list but Des Taylor in the Thundergod comp altered was winding up the pressure and finding his feet in the
new car, having to learn fast. Des went on to meet reigning Super Cup champion Paul Grainger in the final. Knowing Des was getting faster on each pass, Paul turned
the Anglia up to eleven and, as you can see from the picture, sent the car in to a huge wheelie. Unfortunately the landing was hard putting the car out of action for the
rest of the weekend. Paul managed to nurse it back to the pits. Volks Stock went the way of a new racer to the class, it was a perfect round taking the number one in
qualifying and the round win.

In Sportsman ET, George Chiles in his Chrysler Crossfire nearly pulled off the perfect round - he was sat on top in qualifying but broke out against Dave Mears in the final.
In Pro ET, Richard Granger and his street-legal Plymouth Road Runner and Mia in the Wraith pick up met in the final, a very close race with Mia taking the round win.
In HRSC, Derek Beck in the TVR was in the final against Andy Crolla in his 1990s Camaro - both cars on paper very evenly matched but Derek's reaction gave him an advantage
all the way to the finish line.

Monday Round 4: In American Super Stock, Kris and his Pro Street Mustang's luck was in, taking the round win against Richard Granger who ran a red light then broke out as well.
In JDM-DRC, Shaun Rounthwaite in the V8 Lexus, met CJ Murty in the £50 banger in the final. A very close race but Shaun, right on the numbers, took the round win.
Pro FWD was a repeat of Sunday - Pete against Stephen Ray and the Astra van, Pete taking the round win and running a new PB of 11.0.

In Super Cup Des Taylor was getting to grips with the newly-purchased Thundergod, matching the car's PB with an 8.8 and taking the round win for the double. Ben Rushforth
was in another Jaguar-powered race car, this time in the Mouse Trap 2 front-engine dragster. A best of a 9.00 at less than half throttle shows huge potential for the car once
the team get it dialled in. Volks Stock had many breakages, all David Downes had to do in the Maher Beetle was stage to take the win.

In Sportsman ET Dave Mears got the double, meeting Stephen Gilmour and the Pinto Cortina in the final. A double break-out but Stephen by the larger amount, gifting the
win to Dave. In Pro ET, Richard Granger found himself in the final again but this time things went his way - a break out from Vic Parsons and his Belvedere gave Richard the
round win.

We will be doing all again at the end-May Bank Holiday at our VW, Music and Drag Racing Festival. Two rounds of Volks Stock, JDM-DRC, Pro FWD and NSCC and one round
of American Super Stock, Sportsman ET, Pro ET, Super Cup and HRSC, and we welcome the Nostalgia Superstock series.

Web site updates.6th May: Our good friend Callum Pudge tells us that the official web site of the UK's Outlaw Anglias has been
updated with an illustrated report from last week's second round at the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. You can check out out at
www.outlawanglia.co.uk.

If you have a pick-up and would be interested in appearing at Truxx Factor then please call Steve Horne on
07831 373425.

When it can only get better...4th May: UK Pro ET racer Paul Baynton writes on behalf of himself and daughter and co-driver Laura
that Team Capricious have not had the best start to their season:

We nearly didn't arrive at the Festival of Power at all. We made a detour up the M40 after the M25 was showing delays
of up to an hour and a half. The detour was OK until heading along the A43 dual carriageway, a very kind lady decided
to stop to let someone join from the slip road. With everything locked up we managed to stop inches from the back of
her car and thanks to the observant lorry driver in the other lane, who clearly saw what was going on and managed to
also stop, we avoided a major accident! We continued our journey to Hauser Race Cars for some set-up changes on the
rear of the Capri before heading on to Santa Pod.

Qualifying went OK and Laura qualified seventh which put us up against Paul Brown in the first round. The Capri was
running well when we headed down for the first round on Saturday. We sat in the pairing lanes for a while and then we
decided to get some heat into the engine. Two pumps of the throttle then thump! The cable snapped and that was it, game
over. Gutted! The annoying thing was we had a new cable in the motorhome but no time to fit it. Thanks to Jim Massey
for the loan of the coolest recovery vehicle and to Steve Hudson for the driving duties.

On to the APIRA Springspeed Nationals for round two and after an uneventful trip we got set up at the track. Qualifying
went well and at the end of day one and after four qualifiers we were fourth. Sunday produced a stiff crosswind and on
our second run we improved slightly but remained fourth. Sunday night it rained and rained some more. On Monday we were
greeted with a few more showers. After another heavy shower just after lunch we decided to load up ready to head home.
The sun came out and so we waited as the track crew were working hard to dry the track.

Once it became apparent that we were going racing we took the Capri back off the trailer and got ready. We were waiting
in the pairing lanes and then there was an untimely oil down. We were then told that we would all only be getting a first
round. Not unexpected as time was marching on. All weekend I'd been cutting good lights so I didn't expect such a poor red
handing the win to my opponent.

All in all it was an enjoyable weekend. The track didn't feel as good as usual this weekend but the effort put in by all
the track crew and officials could not be faulted. Well done everyone. See you all again in August. Next up the Main Event
where we hope things will improve for us.

Hosts sought for Main Event VIPs.4th May: Former racer, co-owner of the Apache Nostalgia Funny Car, and all-round good egg
Perry Antoniou has been in touch with a request to racers to help to promote the sport to a brace of VIPs at the FIA / FIM
Main Event:

I need a favour from the pits on the Sunday of the race (28th May). I have two VIP guests with me and I have been asked to give them a close-up and
personal pit tour of the all classes and teams on that day. Obviously I know how busy the Top Fuel, Top Methanol, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Modified
pits can get particularly during turn-round. But if any teams would be happy for me to spend ten minutes or so showing my guests around their pit, vehicle
and team to explain what's going on then please let me know. We won't get in your way and I know enough to show and explain to my guests what is going on
whilst the crew and driver are hard at it during the day.

Obviously several teams and drivers know who I am, but I still always feel obliged to be courteous and ask if it is OK for me to snoop in with two guests.
For those who don't know my face, I'll wear a red rose! This is mainly for Pro classes as I know that all the Sportsman teams are always welcoming to visitors.
Except for Rob Smallworth whom I know never wants to be interrupted when he's having breakfast, not even for a qualifying round...

If you can help Perry with his VIPs then please drop him a line at perry@n2oxide.com.

Swift snippets.4th May: Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the post-APIRA Springspeed Nationals points standings
in the 2017 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at
www.kingracing.com.

Terje Håkensbakken writes that Norway's Junior Drag Bike team has a new member in the
person of John Rolfstad, son of Supertwin star Svein Olav. John's bike has a new 600 cc motor and will be capable of
high sevens over the eighth. At the weekend John met the public at a show in his home town of Skreia.

We have received another spy picture of the "Barn find" from this week's mole. If you know more, or if you
would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Web site updates.4th May: Thanks to MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR Robin Jackson for letting us know that a report
of the first round of the Pro Mod Championship is now showing on its official web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.

Our good friend Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with shots of Saturday's action at
the weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals. As ever you can check out the latest updates via What's New at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon site with pictures from the Saturday of the Festival of Power at Santa
Pod Raceway. You can take a look at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.

BDRHoF Allard Award entry open.4th May: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
has announced details of the 2017 Sydney Allard Media Awards for Written and Photographic Journalism, which will be presented for the
fourth consecutive year at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner at the historic Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, on
Saturday 18th November. In 2017 a new Award has been added for Best Video.

Established in 2014 in memory of the founding father of British drag racing, the Sydney Allard Media Awards celebrate the best of the
past year's written, video and photographic drag racing journalism and salutes the vital contribution which the media makes to the sport's
well-being and success. Entries are now invited from writers, photographers and those producing videos, amateur or professional, posted on
YouTube and reflecting coverage of British drag racing and associated activities during the twelve months ending July 2017. This means that
anything taken or written since August 2016 is eligible and entry is open now.

This year's entries must be submitted by the end of August 2017 then the winning entrant in each category will be invited, together with
a companion, to attend the Hall of Fame Gala to receive a crystal trophy in recognition of his or her achievement.

The Written Journalism Award will be presented to the author of the year's best article, feature, book or blog, published or unpublished,
in print or on-line in the designated time frame. The Photographic Journalism Award will be presented for the best picture, and the Video
Journalism Award will be presented for the best video, covering the same period.

Writers, video editors and photographers may make multiple entries but each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry form to enable
the judges to collate them accurately. Full entry details are available on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk.
The judging panel will include Guild of Motoring Writers President, racer, motoring connoisseur and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and
the Editor of Octane magazine, David Lillywhite.

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance,
so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on Eurodragster.com, and on
Facebook and Twitter.

Swedish Pro Modified racer Mats Eriksson has confirmed that the Green Goblin team will be sitting out 2017 whilst
a new race car is built. You can read more on the ME Racing web site at
www.meracing.com.

We have received two more spy pictures from the same mole who slipped us yesterday's barn find. If you know more, or if you
would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Editor's note: An unavoidable short news update today. We will catch up with the backlog for tomorrow's update, and please
keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com.

Clerks of the Course Glenn Stockton, Jane Read and Tony Smith asked us to publish this message of appreciation to racers and crew:
"After observations from the MSA Steward, competitors and crew will have noticed that passes are being checked more thoroughly
in the staging lanes and on startline. SCR is famous for being a friendly and lenient place to race, but we have had to tighten
up on the number of people in the startline area purely for safety reasons. We would like to thank all the teams for their good-natured
co-operation."

Apologies for the brief break in webcam service as the racing commenced. From where we were sitting the broadcast software was reporting
that that everything was just fine, there were no hints of any problem elsewhere in the process path, but after a timely query from a
viewer we restarted the broadcast service anyway and that sorted it out.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored APIRA Springspeed Nationals
reports and galleries by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Please join Tog in thanking Simon for his hard work on the live race reports and Grace for her half (or more) of the daily galleries.

Swift snippets.2nd May: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Barn find".
If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

You can check out the Race, Rock'n'Ride entry list by
clicking
here and the FIA / FIM Main Event entry list by
clicking
here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.

Entry is still open for both races but, the official closing date having passed, may be subject to a penalty fee. The official entry
forms can be downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Web site updates.29th April: Santa Pod Raceway's YouTube channel has been updated with Zeon TV's excellent coverage of
Round 1 of the 2017 ACU Super Street Bike Championship which took place at the Festival of Power. Check it out at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnw6Lrx9nhY.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the Spring Madness Public Track Day at Shakespeare
County Raceway. You can take a look at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

If you would like to keep up to date with what's going on check out our Facebook Page and our web site at
www.streeteliminator.com.

Swift snippets.27th April: Good Luck and stay safe to Smax Smith (Top Fuel Dragster), Jonnie Lindberg
(Fuel Funny Car), Ulf Leanders (Top Methanol FC) and Johan Lindberg (Top Methanol FC) who are contesting this weekend's
NHRA Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Qualifying commences today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our
heroes' progress on the Drag Race Central web site at
www.dragracecentral.com and on Smax's and the Lidnbergs' Facebook
pages.

We would like to say a big Happy 21st Birthday and many more of them to UK Super Pro ET racer Brad Jackson. It scarcely
seems possible but Brad's dad Wayne tells us that Brad has been racing for eight years. Have a great day Brad.

The latest Feature on the Drag Racing Europe Blog covers multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund who
will be racing in the Old 51 Pro Mod this season although his own race car will still get an outing or two. You can read
more by clicking
here.

Eurodragster.com sponsor MPM Oil has introduced a new premium synthetic long
life motor oil especially developed for the latest generation 2.0 TFSI (140 kW) and 3.0 TDI CR (160kW) VAG engines where VW
specifications 508.00 / 509.00 are prescribed. You can find out more (PDF format) by clicking
here.

You can check out the Race, Rock'n'Ride entry list by
clicking
here and the FIA / FIM Main Event entry list by
clicking
here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.

The official closing date for both races is tomorrow, Friday. Official entry forms for both races can be
downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Springspeed Nationals racer update.27th April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us details of the arrangements for
this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway:

Racer tickets, final instructions, vehicle passes and scrutineering slips have now been sent
out to every racer who submitted their entries with an SAE before close of business last Friday. Anyone who
posted their entry since last Friday will be able to collect their tickets on arrival at the main gate. If any crew
member arrives before their respective racer then they must notify the track before hand, or wait to gain entry
when their driver or rider arrives at the track.

Entry to the pits will commence at 12:00 on Friday. If racers wish to arrive on Friday morning,
before the pit gate opens, then they are more than welcome to park up and wait. Please note that pit marshals
will escort all racers to their designated pit, so please be patient if a queue develops on the entrance road
into the pits. Anyone who pits incorrectly will be politely asked to move to their allocated pit space.

Scrutineering will commence for both cars and bikes at approximately 17:00 on Friday. Scrutineering
will resume at 08:00 on Saturday. Signing On will also open at these times.

Version 5 of the official entry list is now available and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the
left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Saturday's provisional running order is now available and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the
left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Copies will be available in the Signing On office which will be
open between 17:00 and 20:00 on Friday.

Shakespeare County Raceway would like to remind everyone of the safety requirements in the Staging and Fire Up Lanes.
No crew members under the age of seventeen may enter these areas. Under-age Junior crew members can still watch their
respective teams race from the grandstands. The grandstands can be accessed from the top of the lanes by the Signing On office.
We understand that this may upset some of the Junior crews, however safety is paramount and must be considered at all times.
These rules obviously do not apply to under-17s who are riding or driving a race vehicle which is in the pairing lanes (for which you
must be holder of an MSA / ACU licence or you are participating in observed runs). All children remain the responsibility of their parent
or guardian at all times. Thank you for your co-operation.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once past the Medical Centre.

Please do not start engines before 09:00 or after 18:30 on any day of the event.

Only race officials and SCR staff are allowed in Race Control while the race is underway. If any racer
wishes to raise a matter with race officials then please go to Signing On first not Race Control and speak to Race
Secretary Julie Willcox who will be based in Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to the Commentary side of Race Control when there class is waiting to
run, and leave after their class has run.

Anyone who did not collect their 2016 APIRA Championship trophies at last month's Presentation Evening can do so
this weekend. Please see Marie in the Signing On office.

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

Netherlands' organisations join forces.27th April: Kees van der Meij or the Dutch Hot Rod Association writes that the two organisers of races in The Netherlands have joined forces for
events at Drachten Drag Strip in 2017:

In previous seasons DHRA and Quartermile
have organised three events each. But this season both organisations have put their hands, knowledge and crew together to hold
four well-organised events. At these events Pro cars and bikes, street-legal cars and bikes, scooters and kart classes will participate. The Pro bikes and Junior bikes will
contest the Dutch Championship under the KMMV flag, and Pro race cars and Junior Dragsters will contest under the KNAF flag.

The organisation and start crew will be a combination of DHRA crew members and Quartermile crew members. 402 Automotive is responsible for promotion, marketing, communication
and tickets. 402automotive is also responsible for organising the additional themed events such as All American Cars and Bugfest.

Of the six events originally planned for 2017, we will now run four. The following four events will be organised under a new organisation named Fast Show, powered by DHRA and Quartermile.
We invite all racers of Pro and street-legal classes to join us and to support these four rounds, as this is crucial for the survival of drag racing in The Netherlands:

12th-14th May: Fast Show Days of Thunder2nd-4th June DHRA cancelled14th-16th July Quartermile cancelled
28th-30th July: Fast Show The Main Event including All American Cars
25th-27th August: Fast Show Summer Edition
29th September-1st October: Fast Show Weekend of Champions including BugFest

This season we will also initiate the official Dutch Street-legal Championship. All four rounds will count towards the Championship. We will soon release the new branding and planning
for a European Street Legal Championship on which we are working.

For the past year Quartermile and DHRA have been working behind closed doors to forge a partnership which allows us input on the future of Drachten Airfield and drag racing in The
Netherlands.

SPRC warning to racers and crew.27th April: On behalf of the Santa Pod Racers Club Committee, Club Secretary
Ian Marshall has been in touch with a very important message for racers and crew concerning start line access at Santa Pod Raceway:

Riders and drivers are reminded that they are held responsible for the conduct and actions of all of their crew members. This includes ensuring that
only the correct amount of signed-on crew members accompany their vehicle to the start line area.

There have been instances of non signed-on crew attempting to make their way to the start line which not only causes congestion in certain areas but
also puts those crew members in a very dangerous area without any kind of insurance cover. This has to stop immediately.

Some of those who have been stopped by Security have been less than civil. Security are there to stop non signed-on crew, staff or anyone else deemed
ineligible to be in the area. It's about keeping you safe. We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. Future instances will be
reported to the Race Director and the racer whose crew are reported will receiving an official warning in the first instance and then further action for any
additional infractions.

It is the racer's responsibility to ensure that the correct people are where they are supposed to be and that racer and crew maintain a
civil tongue if challenged. Please make a concerted effort to keep all crew members safe.

If you have any queries about the above then please contact Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Swift snippets.27th April: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-Big Bang points standings
in the 2017 UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Further to our news item of 11th April Brian Taylor writes that two more Pit Tour
Guides are sought for the Institute of the Motor Industry Students' Day on the Friday of the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa
Pod Raceway (26th May). Tours take place on the hour from 11:00 until 14:00 inclusive and take an hour each. If you can spare an
hour as an ambassador for drag racing then please call Brian on 01395 579733 or E-Mail
brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk.

Please note that our Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsportwebcast from this weekend's
APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway will be transmitted through a 4G dongle, so in the event of extended downtime
(for example a track's length of oil) broadcast may be stopped to preserve mobile data and the live race report updated accordingly.
In this event, or in the event of any other issues with the webcast, updates will be posted at the top of that day's live race
report and not on Facebook. Individuals who post plaintive comments on FB having neglected to read (a) this notification and
(b) the race report will receive the treatment they deserve and can play the victim as much as they like.

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

Many thanks also to Race Director Tony Smith for forwarding us the provisional Saturday running order for the APIRA
Springspeed Nationals, which you can check out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Please note that as ever the running order is subject to change due to track or weather conditions or for any other
reason deemed necessary by race officials.

Many thanks, too, to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry lists for Race, Rock'n'Ride which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 20th-21st May, and the FIA / FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-29th May.

You can check out the Race, Rock'n'Ride entry list by
clicking
here and the FIA / FIM Main Event entry list by
clicking
here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.

The official closing date for both races is this Friday, 28th April. Official entry forms for both races can be
downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Testing offered at Race, Rock'n'Ride.26th April: Jo Haines of Santa Pod Raceway writes that
car and bike racers entered for the FIA / FIM Main Event are welcome to test at Race, Rock'n'Ride at Santa
Pod on the preceding weekend, 20th-21st May:

FIA Main Event racers may come along and test on what will be a fully-prepped track with three timetabled run slots per day pending track and weather conditions.
You will be able to leave your vehicles on-site between Race, Rock'n'Ride and the Main Event but we cannot guarantee that you will be in the same pit bay.

The test slots will have limited availability. Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis and will be by advance booking only. Tickets and race vouchers are available by calling
Jo Haines on 01234 782828 or by E-Mail at josephine@santapod.com.

Débuting last year with great success, Race, Rock'n'Ride 2017 is all about the need for speed! A festival celebrating everything on two wheels, there's fun for all the
family with action both on and off the track from ACU UK National Drag Bike Championships, Bike-only Run What You Brung, Rocket Bike, FireForce Jet Car, monster truck,
stunt displays, custom show in association with Back Street Heroes magazine, evening entertainment from Limehouse Lizzy and loads more!

Outlaw Anglias are go!26th April: Callum Pudge and Colin Millar write that the Outlaw Anglias' season opener at Big Bang at Santa Pod was
a roaring success with plenty of close and exciting racing.

The class is celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary and has a lot of activity going on in both the foreground and the background including a brand new web site for the class
which launched at www.outlawanglia.co.uk on the eve of the season opener. Huge thanks to Callum Pudge
of Pudgey's Pictures. Take a look at the web site and let us know what you think!

Outlaw Anglia has been rebranded with a new logo and some new marketing material including T-Shirts and hoodies available for purchase in the OA pits. This is your chance
to get one of these collectors' items which are simply stunning. Massive thanks to Tom Pugh.

A race report and gallery of photos from Big Bang have been added to the Outlaw Anglia web site and can be viewed by
clicking here.

We also have some exciting news coming up very soon, so please keep your eyes open. See you all at the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, run fast and run safe!

Swift snippets.26th April: Super Pro ET and Sportsman ET racer Tom Atkinson is adding a third string to his bow by entering
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator at this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals in his twelve-second Caltrac- and drag radial-equipped
pick-up. Tom has also revealed that last week's spy picture presaged a season sponsorship from clothing manufacturer
Toxico. "Huge thanks to Toxico", says Tom. "They make some some killer gear and
it's great that they support drag racing! Please check out their web site and Facebook page."

Many thanks to Andy Marrs and SPRC's timing crew for forwarding the official Timing Data from Big Bang, which you can check out by
clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of
any Eurodragster.com page.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to longtime Eurodragster.com supporter and occasional contributor Stephen Billings. Have
a great day Stephen.

Springspeed Nationals Perfect Awards.26th April: This weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the third event in the
2017 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Sportsman ET
racer Pete Creswell at Big Bang. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to record a
Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying
and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be
increased to £75 for Race, Rock'n'Ride at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to
£50 for Race, Rock'n'Ride. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been reset to £50 after it was won by VW Sportsman racer
Aaron Beales at Big Bang. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in
or index. The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas,
Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Super Stock, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike,
ET Bike and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be
increased to £75 for Race, Rock'n'Ride at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Race, Rock'n'Ride. The
Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold
RV in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one on each side of the
vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next
person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On
office.

Web site updates.26th April: The official Blog of the UK's Storm Funny Bike team has been updated with a report from the
Festival of Power. You can check it out at www.stormdragbike.co.uk.

Longtime spectator Paul Bryan, member of the Warrington Possee (sic), has posted a number of pictures from the Festival Power on his Facebook page. The shots
were taken from the spectator bank, Paul's home since 1978, and Paul tells us that those racers who have seen his shots enjoyed them. You can take a look by
clicking
here.

The IOPD was formed in 1990 to regulate and support the driving experience sector of recreational motorsport in the UK. It was brought about
by the MSA/RAC refusal to recognise and permit Run What You Brung events and track driving activities thereby denying participants and organisers
a route to legitimisation and parity with mainstream motorsports. The IOPD soon grew, facilitating events for some 70,000 to 100,000 participants
each year - not only for driving experiences but for full competition and drag racing. The IOPD also permits many of the world's international
motor manufactures driving experience programmes and track days.

Heading up the IOPD is Steve Murty, who said "We are very happy to support the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner for a third
year. It is a totally non-political impartial organisation which is dedicated to recognising and celebrating those people that have contributed
so much to create the sport we can enjoy today". A visit to the IOPD web site will explain all.

Steve also operates York Raceway with his son Chris, who said "The Hall of Fame
embraces Nostalgia - something that has always been a part of the York Raceway culture, and in association with the Pennine Drag Racing Club
we have been instrumental in developing several of the classes that have become part of today's national Nostalgia scene. But as some
other drag racing and sprinting tracks in the UK, there are some tough battles ahead before we can ensure our survival.

"This year is our fortieth anniversary and racers can help by supporting our meetings – particularly the August Bank Holiday 7th Annual
National Hot Rod Reunion which will mark our official birthday celebrations. It will be great to see the return of those that have burnt
rubber on our track during our forty years' years history. We plan a real northern welcome and it will be a party". Information about this
meeting can be found on York Raceway's web site.

BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury said "York Raceway and the Pennine Drag Racing Club have been strong supporters of the British Drag Racing Hall of
Fame since it was formed in 2006. They have provided a focal point for the development of drag racing in the north of England and long may it
continue. UK drag racing would be a poorer place without it."

Ron Hope (centre, with Bob Muravez and Tracey Hrudka) and Rat Trap Racing have supported the BDRHoF for the past two years and have
announced continued commitment for 2017. This year has Ron has been on a worldwide tour with BDRHoF member Rob Loaring and driver Nick Davies
joining the American arm of the Fuel Altered show, racing the blown Chrysler Donovan Hemi powered Havoc. This renews the exciting battles
seen at Santa Pod's Dragstalgia Meet in 2016.

Ron Hope said "I am really glad to continue my sponsorship of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Celebrating the sport's pioneers is an
important task that all those in drag racing should support. The Gala Awards Dinner is an amazing event; one that I look forward to attending
each year; meeting old friends and making new ones. What started as the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has truly become an international
organisation. It was an honour to have Rat Trap on display at last year's event."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance,
so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on Eurodragster.com, and on
Facebook and Twitter.

Entry is still open and you can download the official entry forms from the track's web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee via Bacs rather than credit card or cheques, as this cuts down on administrative
charges and time; SCR's account details can be found on the entry form.

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary
Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry lists for Race, Rock'n'Ride which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 20th-21st May, and the FIA / FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-29th May.

The official closing date for both races is this Friday, 28th April. Official entry forms for both races can be
downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Morris crosses the Pond.25th April: Ex-pat UK Super class racer Tony Morris has announced that he will be competing in Super Gas at
the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. Tony usually races in the USA where he has made his home for many years:

It's almost the end of April and our NHRA Division 2 season is already past the halfway point. For those who don't know, I drive for Bruce Guertin in his 1979 Ford Fairmont
and we're going into our third season. The last two years we finished eighth out of around sixty cars in Division 2 Super Street.

The first race was on the last weekend in February at Orlando Speedworld. In the first round both cars went red by -0.009 and the computer said we went red first, so on
to Gainesville two weeks later. In Gainesville we went out in round two when we were paired up with 2016 Division 2 SST Champion Jonathan Anderson. We both dumped
together with JA taking the win by 0.0037, so on to SGMP three weeks later. Again, we lost in round two against an old friend, David Bell in his new Vega, when I missed the
Tree with a 0.029 to his 0.018. In addition, we couldn't get there, dumping to a 10.94 so home we went. The next event was a first for us at Galot in North Carolina. Instead of
running a quarter mile we ran a first for the NHRA, 1000 feet with a index of 9.35 for SST. For the third time in a row we were out in round two when I went -0.012 red against
his 0.020 green and on we went on our twelve-hour ride home.

Next up is our only National event this year, also in Super Street, at Atlanta in two weeks, then two weeks later back to Atlanta for the fifth Division 2 race. After that we have
a five month break until October for race six in GA and race seveb in Rockingham NC. The Monday after Atlanta I hop on a plane for the Main Event in the UK.

Last year I got to attend the European Finals and hang out with a bunch of great racers mostly from the Super classes. I was able to help out teams that needed advice on their
set ups and also improve on their throttle stop set up, driving strategies, and make suggestions on how to improve overall in the way they approach the Super classes.
It's always hard for me to watch racing from outside the car and I started thinking how cool it would be to race again at the Pod. While there, I spent a lot of time talking with
longtime friend Paul Marston to whom I talk on a weekly basis. Back in 2005 Paul invited me over to race the Whoopass Monza in Super Gas in return for his racing my
SP dragster in Florida in the winter series in late 2004. We made it all the way to an awesome final against Frank Mason at the European Finals however came up short by 0.0008
when Frank ran dead on an 8.90 and we followed through with an 8.94 after backing into him dumping, lifting and breking and giving the strip back by such a small margin. It was
one of those races I will never forget in my thirty eight years of drag racing.

Over the winter Paul and I have been talking about how we should go about getting me back behind the wheel in England. He wanted to test the car out first before we entered
the event. We figured best to test in Super Gas over Easter to make sure that we were close enough for me to come over. Then I could jump in and together we could do the last
of the fine-tuning. Besides a few minor issues over the Easter race weekend, Paul has given the go ahead and I'm all set to make it happen.

I have entered the Whoopass Monza in Super Gas and Paul has entered in Super Street. It's going to be a busy month ahead but I'm very excited to be a part of the
European scene.

One more thing: as always if anyone is in need of help or advice, even if you're in my class, please come and ask. I'm always there to help.

Mistuboshi are one of the leading manufacturers in the market for automotive / industrial belts and components. One of their main products is the well-known
Star Racer
blower belt which we have used for a while and which have helped us to win some events and an FIA European Drag Racing Championship. Werner Habermann Racing
will appear in a new design for the 2017 FIA Championship season, and we will have Star Racer blower belts in different sizes for different applications in stock at races.
Come and talk to us and we will convince you about this high performance product.

Another new sponsor is Tommy Werbung of Germany, which is a well-known company for vinyl
applications on cars, trucks etc. Tommy Werbung is responsible for the new design on the two dragsters and the race trailer.

One of our dragster will be displayed on the Mitsuboshi Expo stand at the world-leading Industrial Show in Hannover next week.

Read returns to Dragstalgia.25th April: The UK's Robin Read has announced that he will be attending July's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway
with his six-second nitro-burning V8 Daimler-powered dragster. Robin says that he hopes that we will be able to add 200 mph to this
list after what is a very special event for the team:

The date of Dragstalgia is within two weeks of the thirtieth anniversary of the dragster's début meeting. The intention is to attempt
to be the first British-engined car to run 200 mph in the quarter mile. With that goal in mind we will also be attending Race, Rock'n' Ride to do some testing (Webcam event - Ed).
This is primarily to check out the changes we have made to the car, but also to make sure that we have solved the oil leak problems experienced at last year's Flame and Thunder Show.
Should we be successful in our endeavour then there is every chance that we will run quicker than 6.81 which is the car's best ET, and this would also be a new record.

So our whole team are very excited. It is also a tribute to my crew's dedication that this is still the original line-up from the car's debut in June 1987: Mark Evans, Bill Mears,
Bertie Hopkinson and Ella Chapman. I am indebted to them for their support on and off the track.

My thanks go to James Forster and his team for making the arrangements. I look forward to seeing all drag racing supporters old and new, and of course the many friends we have
made within the sport. Come and cheer us on!

Swift snippets.25th April: Many congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy future to SPRC Assistant Race Director and
SPRC Timekeeper Karl and Nikki Birkenshaw who were married last Thursday and are now on honeymoon. Before Nikki whisked him off
Karl sent us this great picture of a very happy couple.

UK Fuel Funny Car racer-in-waiting Steve Ashdown asked us to say a big Thank You to
Champion for spark plugs and
merchandise. "We are looking forward to meeting Michela, who is making the trip from Italy to see us race the Undertaker Funny Car", says Steve.
Thank you to Michela and to Champion for all their help."

Thanks to the vast majority of viewers who were patient and understanding whilst we had network problems with our
Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsportwebcam on Sunday.
The problem appeared to lay with the supplier of the link to the outside world and thus was neither SPR's nor our fault.
A big Thank You to Julian Parsons of Nitro FM who worked very hard to diagnose the problem. To those who were neither
patient nor understanding and moaned and bitched, and to the couple who were downright offensive, we can only offer the advice RTFRR.

Also on the subject of webcasts we would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend Maikel Gloudemans of our webcast
streaming provider Doyousee.me. Have a great day M@ik.

Web site updates.25th April: Chris Eyre writes that the news page on the European Nostalgia Funny Car web site has been updated with a report
from the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. "It was great to see a couple of new cars in attendance", says Chris, "Tony Betts in Venom and Rob Elsom with Dirty
Deeds. Not only is there a report but some fantastic photos by Andrew Green. Also on the same page there is a photo gallery from the March Meet at Famoso Raceway,
again by Andrew. These can all be found at euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com."

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored live
reports and galleries by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

APIRA event entry update.24th April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us Version 3 of the official entry list for this
weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which you can check out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Entry is still open and you can download the official entry forms from the track's web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee via Bacs rather than credit card or cheques, as this cuts down on administrative
charges and time; SCR's account details can be found on the entry form.

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

Swift snippets.24th April: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Team Heaven and Hell and
Earsplittenloudenboomer crew member and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Colin Roaf. Have
a great day Colin.

The official closing date for both races is next Friday, 28th April. Official entry forms for both races can be
downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about SPRC event entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Swift snippets.22nd April: If you were tuned in to our Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam during yesterday's Peak Performance
Day then your eyes didn't deceive you, that was a Top Fuel Dragster you saw. The driver was longtime fan Kevin Chapman who had never
been down the track before but thought that it was about time he had a go, and he did so in one of Rune Fjeld's cars. A competent burnout and sixty
foot made up yesterday's first run and Kevin is expected to make two more runs over this weekend.

Red Line Oils have signed up as a contingency sponsor of the 2017 EDRS Series. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

York Raceway Easter review.22nd April: Chris Murty has been in touch with a report of the Easter action at the UK's
York Raceway:

Sunday started so well. The track was in unbelievable form for an Easter meeting and when the first round of qualifying started there were
many breakouts as racers were caught out. Unfortunately the rain which we hoped would be a shower sat on us for the rest of the day and
racing was called off. A bonus 100 points were awarded to those who made the only qualifying session in American Super Stock, JDM-DRC,
Pro FWD and Super Cup.

Monday was a fresh start. The weather was great, the conditions were great, and the team got the track to an excellent standard ready for racing.

In American Super Stock there were breakouts galore, the track catching most people out including the 2016 Champion who broke out in the
second round. It was the perfect day for Dave Billadeau who took top qualifier and the event win, taking the maximum amount of points.

In JDM-DRC, with 2016 Champion Nathan Askey retiring and two-time Champion Phil Davison yet to make his return, there was a chance
for the rest of the field to gain some ground. The 2016 runner-up was too eager and red lit in the first round, CJ found himself taking the eveant thatnt
win in impressive style in a car which cost him just £50. He was the slowest against the quickest in the final: poor Peter Richardson had
to wait for six seconds for CJ to get near the eighth before he finally got the green light.

Pro FWD had extremely close racing, unfortunately an early retirement meant that this class went straight to the final. It meant more to PFD6
as he was out the traps and gone! Peter Richardson just couldn't reel him in after that, PFD6 going on to take the win.

Hot Rod was unbelievably close, the reaction times were identical and the ETs almost identical, Derek Beck's TVR just taking the win with an
11.8967 to Andy Crolla's losing 11.8968 in his red 1990s Camaro.

In Sportsman ET, 2016 Champion CJ took himself out with a breakout in the semi-finals, losing to James Murry in the green Cortina Estate
who broke out in the final against long-time racer George Chiles who took the win in his Chrysler Crossfire.

Sadly Super Cup was plagued with breakages. Reigning champion Paul Grainger in the green Anglia wason top running 9.8 without the nitrous,
however it appeared that there was an issue which put it on the trailer early. Ben Rushforth was out in another Jaguar-powered car, this time
the Jaguart motor shoehorned into a Cobra body, but breakages ruled him out from racing. The car ran 9.8722 in RWYB. Unfortunately there was
no final run.

In NSCC, Ian Wally in the Yellow Cortina matched his PB at York running 9.8707/136 taking the win from Derek Beck in his TVR 12.1981/113.

All of these race classes will return to York Raceway next weekend, 30th April-1st May.

Web site updates.22nd April: The UK's Outlaw Anglias have launched a new web site at
www.outlawanglia.co.uk. The site by photographer Callum Pudge
includes rules, gallery and tributes to Debbie Hancox. Callum tells us that more information will be added as the season goes on including
race reports and galleries, garage builds, Championship points after this weekend's first rounds, and more. If anyone has any suggestions for additions or amendments
then you can E-Mail Callum at pudgeyspictures@gmail.com or contact him via Facebook.

Please read of page 341 of the MSA Blue Book, ref number S 7.1.7 "For Drag Race competitors under the age of 18 years a PG Entrants
Licence is required". H 27.1.9 applies, which can be found on page 137 of the Blue Book.

APIRA event entry update.21st April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us Version 2 of the official entry list for next
week's APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which you can check out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Entry is still open and you can download the official entry forms from the track's web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.
Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee via Bacs rather than credit card or cheques, as this cuts down on administrative
charges and time; SCR's account details can be found on the entry form.

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

All aboard for VWDRC round 2.21st April: After a most successful Festival of Power racing and weather wise the UK's Volkswagen Drag Racing Club head back
to Santa Pod Raceway for Round 2 of their 30th anniversary season. Luke Stevenson writes that this weekend's round is the first for the Championships' new sponsor:

We are happy to announce that Racinglines, a company which provides precision fluid transfer solutions
and which specialises in catering for motorsport and fast road applications, have joined the ever growing list of VWDRC sponsors. Racinglines supply a massive range
of parts for your fuel system - fuel pumps, fittings, hoses and swirl pots - as well as boost hoses and oil cooling options.

Racinglines have very kindly given us a discount code for all to use on their web site at www.racinglines.com.
Use promo code VWDRC17 for 20% off the advertised price. We look forward to displaying Racinglines' logo on all of our cars throughout the 2017 season.

As most head to Santa Pod for today's Peak Performance Day prior to Big Bang we are very excited to welcome back José Realista with his awesome dayglo Diesel
Polo. José stunned the Easter crowds with passes into the mid nines and will be looking for a new diesel FWD record this weekend before getting his competitive head
on for another round of bracket racing. We also await the unveiling of Paul Jordan's brand new VW Polo race car, Sam Young's newly-competed Black Current 3 who
has (adopt Street Outlaws accent) gone Big Tyre as the quest begins for an electric seven. With these, and a massive entry just shy of fifty cars, it's going to be a great
weekend.

A quick Get Well Soon message to racer Ross Chisholm Brown who suffered a broken leg on Monday after falling off a swing... no, seriously, he did. Keith, can we have racing
back on Bank Holiday Monday? It seems safer.

Tune into the VWDRC Facebook page for more updates during the weekend and to Eurodragster.com for live reports and results.

ATD welcome all to Clastres.21st April: Didier Concave writes from France to invite European racers to compete at the two rounds of the 2017
Association Trophée Dragster National Championship:

ATD are organising races at Clastres in the north of France on 17th-18th June and 22nd-23rd July. The track is located on a racing complex
near Clastres village, between St Quentin and Noyon (near the A1 motorway).

Both races will be over the quarter mile and the track will be prepared by ATD staff. All European racers are welcome. If you are interested
then you can find all of the information you need - fees, rules, entry etc - on the
Association Trophée Dragster
Facebook page or E-Mail atd2003@free.fr.

Please don't hesitate to come and race at France's drag strip, and we wish everyone an enjoyable drag racing season.

There is one slot available on Saturday and two slots on Sunday and they are only on offer to VWDRC racers entered for the event. The passenger rides are available
for £200 plus VAT (usual price £399 plus VAT); this does not include admission to the event but does include a souvenir T-Shirt, certificate and time slip
as well as the ride itself.

Payment must be made prior to the event; no refunds or cancellations will be available. To book, please E-Mail
donna@santapod.com by 12:00 midday tomorrow (Friday).

Swift snippets.20th April: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-Festival of Power points standings
in the 2017 UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Good luck and stay safe to Jonnie Lindberg (Fuel Funny Car) and Fred Hanssen (Top Alcohol Dragster) who
are contesting this weekend's 30th Annual NHRA Springnationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. Qualifying commences
tomorrow (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of the Drag Race Central web site at
www.dragracecentral.com and don't miss the Lindberg Brothers'
excellent web site at www.lindbergbros.com and their equally
excellent Facebook page.

Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels have signed up as a contingency sponsor of the 2017 EDRS Series. You can read more on
the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us Version 1 of the official entry list for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which you can check out by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. "If you have sent in your entry but are not on the list
then please wait for Version2 before panicking", says Jerry. "We can only process entries as quickly as Postman Pat delivers the mail! Furthermore, if you are intending
on paying for your entry by Bacs, have marked the entry accordingly, but have not done so yet (we know who you are!) then please make sure that this part of the entry
process has been completed by the end of this week."

If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44
1789 720180).

Havoc adds fourth US date.19th April: With the March Meet, considered by many to be a successful first meeting for the UK's Havoc AA/Fuel Altered team,
now a distant memory the team are looking forward to the next chapter of the 2017 US Tour. Nick Davies writes:

In June, we will be travelling to the historic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion where we will be part of a four-car
Classic Fuel Altered shoot-out competing with and against stablemate Ron Hope's Rat Trap, Randy Bradford and his Fiat and Dave Hough's Nanook. For anyone
with an interest in the Nostalgia racing movement in the US, check out YouTube footage of the facility then come and support us on 15th-17th June.

A new date has been added in August, as we have been invited to be part of six-car Fuel Altered show at the US 131 Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in
Martin, Michigan. We wanted to arrange at least one summer meeting to allow families to travel without interrupting school term dates, and the Northern Nationals works
well. Also in attendance will be an eight-car qualified field of Nostalgia Funny Cars as well as Bob Motz with his world-famous Jet Kenworth Truck.

We will finish off the year at the California Hot Rod Reunion in October, as planned, after which the car will be loaded to travel home.

The team would like to welcome new sponsor Goodyear Tyres, who have kindly offered to supply us with slicks and front runners for the rest of the tour and beyond.
Goodyear join Beech Underwriting, Rat Trap Racing, Lawrie Gatehouse and the NFAA, US Automotive, Lucas Oil, Motorstate Distributing, ARP Fasteners and Thacker and
Co as supporting partners for the entire US.2017 tour.

The team would also like to thank all the fans for their incredible support prior to, at, and since the March Meet as well as Eurodragster.com for their extensive
coverage, all of which helps more than you can appreciate (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). As well as on Eurodragster.com you can follow the team's progress
on their web site at www.havocfuelaltered.co.uk and on their
Facebook page.

Swift snippets.19th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"Here's a Big Bang taster". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Finland's Petteri Liimatainen will be racing in Top Methanol Dragster in 2017. You can find out more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

The Lady finds her way again.19th April: Suze Morris writes that UK ET Bike racer Phil Pratt was delighted to pick up the winner's at the Festival of Power,
especially as it came after eighteen months during which it seemed that the team had completely lost their way:

In 2016 Satan's Lady had been plagued with problems, meaning that we sat out the UK National Finals whilst former 8.50 Bike Champion Jake Mechaell took her in
and refreshed and rebuilt her motor in time for us to test at the Flame and Thunder where she was to prove consistent beyond belief: five passes all in the very low 9.0s
and finishing the day with a nice 8.99 on the board!

The decision was made to put her away and leave her alone so, in true last-minute drag racing tradition, we loaded up and headed off for Thursday's Test Day.
A few minor adjustments to the suspension resulted in Phil putting in his best ever sixty foot time during qualifying, so we were ready for race day. With runs of
9.07, 9.04, 9.04 and another 9.04 in the final with Gary Hester, where we ended our trophy drought, it definitely looks like we've got our consistency back!

We have to say a massive Thank You to Jake Mechaell who worked so hard to get us back on track, and we must also send apologies to Donna, Hayden and Maria
for all the time he was tucked away out of sight in the workshop! A huge Thank You to all of the teams in ET Bike for their camaraderie; they are such a great
bunch and we're very proud to be a part of the varied and ever-growing class. Thanks also, as always, to the track crew who worked so hard all over the weekend
but especially for getting the race surface dry so quickly after the shower of rain just before our semi-final.

As we continue to fly the flag of the Mighty Eighth Air Force above our pits, we are always delighted to have visitors. Our information and displays about the 92nd
Bombardment Group USAAF during their time at Podington continues to expand, with families of those who served at Station 109 (as it was during WWII) still sending
photographs and stories of their loved ones, which we are honoured to display on our pit walls. If you haven't already popped by and taken a look then please do, it's
fascinating stuff and is keeping me busy (and, at times, in need of a new supply of tissues). We are immensely proud to run Satan's Lady in tribute to those
who served from the place we all love.

The Festival of Power has given the team a real boost and we are looking forward to hopefully carrying our new momentum through to this weekend's Big Bang and
the rest of the 2017 SPRC Championship. Phil really needs a new coat!

Big Bang Perfect Awards.19th April: This weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway is the second event in the 2017 Eurodragster.com Perfect
Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance.

The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Gearhead Garage UK
Super Pro ET racer Laura Turburville at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to record a
Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying (commences 16:00 Saturday)
and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be
increased to £75 for next week's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to
£50 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the
Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index.
The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying (commences 16:00 Saturday) or eliminations in VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Sportsman ET, Lucas
Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), Nostalgia Super Stock, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike and ET Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
ET of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for next week's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare
County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona
Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV in support of Bloodwise; you can donate to Bloodwise at
www.bloodwise.org.uk.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one on each side of the
vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next
person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are available in the Signing On
office.

Friday of next week (28th) is the official closing date for entry to both Race, Rock'n'Ride which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 20th-21st May and the FIA / FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-29th May. Official
entry forms for both races can be downloaded from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Ian has to go into hospital today (Tuesday) so he tells us that SPRC business may be slow for a short while. "Depending upon how quickly
things progress I hope to be back to answering the phone on Wednesday and dealing with E-Mails on Thursday", he says.

Our very best wishes to Ian for a successful hospital trip and a rapid recovery.

Feature: Webster Race Engineering.18th April: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products Simon stepped in to the workshop of
Eurodragster.com sponsor Webster Race
Engineering.

Simon spoke to Jon Webster about the products, services and facilities which WRE can offer, projects underway including Jon's own Pro Mod
currently under out-of-hours construction, and more.

You can take a look at the Feature by clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Help Oscar help the Hospice.18th April: Santa Pod Racers Club pit marshal Caroline Boncey is again undertaking a Bubble Run in aid
of the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted and you can help her to raise funds for this very good cause:

"I have sky-dived and walked for the Hospice of St Francis and this year it's the bubble rush again", says Caroline. "Last year
I ended up looking like a Smurf and if they have green bubbles I could end up looking like oscar! My goddaughter Chloe is bubbling
with me again this year.

"Please help me to raise as much as I can so that the Hospice can help as many people as they can. When my nan stayed at the Hospice
they gave her love and care and afterwards they helped me. Pennies and pounds add up and will allow the Hospice to carry on loving
and caring."

If you would like to sponsor Oscar to get frothy for this excellent cause then you can check out her JustGiving page by
clicking here.

Swift snippets.18th April: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Steve Ashdown asked us to say a big Thank You to Nick Kenway at
3 Sixty Wraps in Northampton for stepping in and helping to sort out the wrap on the Undertaker FC after another
company let Steve down. "Nick's a great guy", says Steve. "He has changed all of his plans for the next few weeks to fit in the Funny Car. He really knows
his stuff and he is looking forward to helping us with car. I can recommend that anyone who needs a vehicle or a trailer wrapped to call Nick on 01604 645826
or look at his web site at www.3sixtywraps.co.uk."

Many thanks to Andy Marrs for forwarding the official Timing Data from the Festival of Power, which you can
check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data
link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Congratulations to UK ET Bike racer Siobhan Moor who lowered her PB from 10.8050 to 10.2750 at the Festival of
Power. Duncan Barron wrote to let us know that no modifications had been made to Siobhan's bike and that it was just
a case of her riding it better after making only ten runs last season.

Although Your News Editor's still-in-force diet precluded sampling the more calorific of it we would like to say a big
Thank You to Eurodragster.com Team Nutritionist Syd McDonald, Benni Voss, the Payne family, the Wilson family, the Charman family,
the Coulsell family, and all those who brought lunch and Easter treats to Commentary and the Eurodragster.com
office during the Festival of Power. It was and is very much appreciated.

We can only hope that people read this stuff, yet again a lot didn't before last weekend, but the current webcast schedule for this
weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway is Eurodragster.com's Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam from Friday's
Peak Performance Day, Box Lane Productions' stream via Santa Pod Raceway's Facebook on Saturday, and then the
Eurodragster.com webcam again on Sunday. The relevant links are on our Big Bang Event Index page which you can check out by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

If you have any UK or European drag racing memorabilia taking up space then drag racing fan Adam James is an avid
collector and would be pleased to help you to make room. "I do not have pots of money but if you have anything which you think might be of interest
then please contact me with details of item(s) and how much you would accept for them including P&P", says Adam. You can contact Adam at
chelsead@sky.com.

Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard will be enjoying extended support from Lucas Oil Products in 2017. You can read more on the
Drag Racing Europe Blog by clicking
here. Also now showing on the Drag Racing Europe Blog is the great news that oil pump and connecting rod manufacturer Auto Verdi will again
be a contingency sponsor of the EDRS in 2017 and you can read about that by
clicking
here.

Tactless(adj): Asking Eurodragster.com for copies of pictures for use on your Facebook but never sending
news items to Eurodragster.com.

Rude(adj): Taking pictures or text from Eurodragster.com without asking permission and without crediting the source or sharing a link. Also
see Theft.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Festival of
Power reports, pit notes and galleries by
clicking
here of by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

As at last year's event Santa Pod Racers Club, Lucas Oil Products UK, Atlantic Fluid Tech and US Automotive will sponsor two tables of
ten for the top three on four wheels and two, who will be guests along with their parents. It is an occasion to which they all look forward
and we must thank our sponsors for supporting the event and the Junior Drag Racing classes in this unique way.

During the evening the Juniors will be introduced to many of the drag racing legends attending and asked on stage to receive the applause
of those attending the event.

British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Limited Board Member Phil Evans of Santa Pod Racers Club, the FIA Drag Racing Commission and Atlantic
Fluid Tech said "Last year it was such a pleasure to involve the young people entering our sport and introduce them to drag racing legends
like Don Schumacher, Ron Hope and Bob Muravez at the Gala. I don't know who was more thrilled, the legends or the Juniors, and it was
one of the highlights for me as well. This year we have a few more surprises for them so watch this space."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance,
so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on Eurodragster.com, and on
Facebook and Twitter.

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking here or by clicking on the
John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to
change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event. Before 09:00 vehicles should
be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish to raise any
matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see Race Secretary Kathy Taylor who is based in
Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate
Commentary when their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com
staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

Big Bang racer update.11th April: Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for next week's Big Bang
at Santa Pod Raceway:

The provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by
clicking here or by clicking on the
John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to
change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.

No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event. Before 09:00 vehicles should
be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.

Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.

Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish to raise any
matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see Race Secretary Yvonne Tramm who is based in
Signing On.

Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate
Commentary when their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.

The Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com
staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Perfect Award money.

"We are very happy to be able to work closely with Aeromotive's Motorsports Manager Bub Miller", says Michael Malmgren. "When it comes to fuel systems, they work with
most NHRA Pro Stock teams and have the best products out there."

"Michael Malmgren has been around for a long time and is very professional", says Motorsports Manager Bub Miller. "He works with many other US performance part manufacturers,
so he fits in well in our group of supported motorsport teams. We are happy to have Malmgren Racing on board."

Going Perfect with York Raceway.11th April:York Raceway are delighted to announce that they will
be running Perfect ET and Perfect Reaction Time awards across all PDRC Championship classes this season.

The Perfect Reaction Award sponsored by Gasworks Plumbing and the Perfect ET Award sponsored by Northrace Speedshop are worth £25 each,
so a fantastic £50 will be up for grabs each meeting and will roll over until it is won.

To qualify racers must obtain a Perfect Award sticker from the Signing On office and display it in a visible location on the race vehicle throughout the event.
Prize money will only be awarded to racers displaying the Perfect Award sticker, so don't forget to pick yours up.

York Raceway would like to thank all of their sponsors and Eurodragster.com for their support (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed).

Brown's Pro ET return.11th April: The UK's Paul Brown Motorsport are looking forward to returning to Pro ET at this weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway:

This will be our first time in Pro ET since 2012 when we won the UK National Championship. This will be a new challenge in a different car and using a Sportsman Tree for the
first time in four years.

Unfortunately the Shorty chassis was too badly damaged in the accident and the repair cost was not worth the trouble, which was a shame as the car and I were becoming a great
combination. So I will be driving the dragster which I used for the final race of last season. It has been showing some consistent numbers already but it didn't quite have enough
power to make the 8.90 Super Comp index. We haven't really had to do much to the car over the winter as we put in all the legwork to make it to the UK National Finals.

We don't know how many events we plan on running this season as we are so busy away from the track. In addition the car is still for sale as a turn-key, so if you are interested
then please come and see us in the pits this weekend or call me on 07554 626162.

The car is sponsored this season by sPeedZ Simulator Experience. sPeedZ is an indoor simulator competing for fastest Reaction Time with a full-sized Pro drag racing tree, steering
wheels and full working sounds of Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Harley bike for a start line experience. There are various different modes to choose from and you can run a full competition
ladder. It is available for hire for parties, stag / hen do, car shows, corporate events and trade events. On 20th April the indoor simulator will be making an appearance at Oakley
Sports and Social Club, Oakley, Bedford, MK43 7RU to raise money for the Air Ambulance. Everyone is welcome. There are mini moto and short wheelbased dragster outdoor versions
coming soon. Please like the Facebook page for upcoming events or for full details about hiring please phone
07947 945935 or E-Mail speedzsimx@hotmail.com.

This weekend I will also be crewing with Andy Harrison, who was awarded his racing licence last weekend and will be racing in Super Gas. Good luck for the season Andy. I would also like to congratulate
my best mate and long-term crew member Lee Stapleton who got married to Dani on 8th April. I hope that being married means you will still come to the track to come to play Lee, see
you Saturday buddy!

More money for UK Top Sportsman.11th April: UK Top Sportsman are pleased to welcome JT Construction as the headline sponsor for UK Top Sportsman 2017
which takes place at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 28th–30th July. Paul Marston writes:

This will be the first year that John Tebenham has stepped up to take the title role and we are delighted to welcome him. JT has in past years
offered a hefty cash bounty for the winner of the Heads Up race, last year weighing in with £1250 cash for the number one qualifier and
winner.

John said "Nowadays I am just too busy with business to race myself, but I can still support this great class. I really appreciate what Paul
and his team do. They all do it for nothing, and if people like them didn't put in the time and effort then it wouldn't happen, it's as simple
as that. I know how hard race teams lean on their stuff to win this race, I just put some money up to show my appreciation of Sportsman racers
having been one myself. To be honest, with the exception of Kenny Coleman at EDA I am quite surprised that more of the people directly involved
in the sport don't help out with a little bit of sponsorship money. After all, it's their customers who race in it."

The prize fund will work as follows. The usual Top Sportsman prize money will be allocated as it usually is, that is to say that after
expenses all the remaining entry money goes into the prize pot. This is shared out equally between the Fast Bracket and the Heads Up race.
The size of the prize fund is dependent upon the number of entries. JT's money will be available for the Heads Up race and will be
£750 win and £500 for runner-up, both in cash. JT's prize fund will not be shared out if the race is not completed, but the rest
of the Top Sportsman prize fund will.

In addition JT has also put up €100 travel money for the first three foreign competitors who want to race with us. It won't pay for the
trip but it's another way of giving some help.

There are some mean race cars expected this year. Make no mistake, this is the richest, toughest, no holds barred, no rules other than safety
race on the calendar for Sportsman doorslammers.

There are still some marketing partnership and sponsor spots available, please contact via Facebook at UK Top Sportsman, E-Mail
pmdragracing@gmail.com, call me on 07831 650230, or pass by the PMR pit
at Easter.

Once again our sincere thanks to JT, Gearhead Garage, Steve Ashdown, Liam Jones, Matt Wright, Kenny Coleman at EDA, Tog and the Eurodragster.com
team, Dave and Helen at Zeon TV, and all the other great people who support what we do. Last but by no means least thanks to all the PMR and SPR
crew who help out to make this happen, and naturally our hosts the organising committee of the Mopar Euronationals.

Swift snippets.11th April:Jens Könnecke writes from Germany with a shot of the team preparing the race car for
Super Pro ET competition at this weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. "See you Wednesday!", says Jens.

Teams planning to field more than one driver in the same vehicle in the UK National Championships this season are reminded
that they have until close Thursday to inform Yvonne Tramm at ytramm@africonnect.com.

It is not too late to book up for a final day's pre-season testing at Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day
at Santa Pod Raceway. The PPD features a track prepped to event standard and full safety cover. Discounted entry is available on
advance bookings. For more details, or to sign up, check out www.rwyb.com.

Eurodragster.com sponsor Simpson Europe has signed up with Speedgroup as a contingency partner for 2017. "In personal safety
products designed to work together to create a safety cell, I would say we are market leader" says Jan Phersson, founder and owner of
Simpson Europe. Simpson Europe has joined Speedgroup's contingency programme
with helmets and firesuits for Pro Modified, Pro Stock, Pro Street, Top Doorslammer and Junior Dragster. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

Congratulations to Sweden's Adam Flamholc who took it all in VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod at the weekend's NMRA / NMCA
All-Star Nationals in Atlanta. Adam qualified #1, set a new record and Personal Best, and won the event. You can read more on the
NMCA
web site.

No news update yesterday (Monday) courtesy of Tog's incompetent local rail company so we were unable to say a big Happy
Birthday with love from Kevin and Jake to Lizz Charman, to Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer and Pro ET racer-in-waiting
Colin Theobald, and to Keith Williams. Hope you had a great day guys. Christine, Sandy, Megan, Stuart and Charlotte asked us
to say a big Happy Birthday for today to Super Gas racer Collin Morrice, have a great day Collin, and we would like to say
Happy Birthday to Pro Modified racer Jöran Persåker, grattis Jöran.

Today is the fortieth anniversary of Your News Editor's first ever visit to a drag race, and to Santa Pod Raceway. That Tog still jumps out of
bed in the small hours to go racing and still gets so excited that he occasionally breaks the speed limit to get to the track
speaks volumes. A big Thank You to all of the racers, officials, owners, staff and of course Eurodragster.com colleagues who
made and make it so much fun, and here's to another forty.

Web site updates.11th April: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with shots of
Sunday's action at the Public Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out the latest update via What's New
at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with a gallery of shots from the pre-Fast Show Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod
Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

Pit Guides sought at Main Event.11th April: Brian Taylor writes that Pit Guides are still sought for the Institute of the Motor Industry Students' Day
on day one of the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway (Friday 26th May):

This year there could be seven hundred students and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has been asked to assemble a team of Pit Tour Guides
to accompany groups around the pits and to introduce them to the technology, racers and crews.

The aim is to get ten people on board. The busy period tends to be between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm, so if you are with a team and not running
during those times please let me know. Or if you have been involved in drag racing and think you can pass on your knowledge and enthusiasm
to students entering the motor industry then get in touch. We will be based in the Mid Track VIP unit on the pit side of the track.

If you are available and would like to join the team then please let me know so that I can start to plan passes etc. Please call 01395 579733 or
E-Mail brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk.

You can check out the weekend galleries on our Festival of Power week Event Index, which also contains a link to the final
official entry list, by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

Decals available this weekend.9th April: Racers testing at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend who wish to get a head start on carrying
Eurodragster.com decals please note that we will have a supply of both car and bike decals in the Eurodragster.com office
at the spectator end of Race Control (over the right lane bleach box) today. Please use the spectator side stairs to reach
our office.

The new decals for the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award in support of Bloodwise
will be available in Signing On from Thursday morning, as will Eurodragster.com decals; visitors are not allowed in Race
Control, including our office, as soon as the Festival of Power commences.

We are pleased to announce the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise for the 2017 season, in support of the
charity Bloodwise which funds research into blood cancer of all types
and which is a favourite charity of the racing community in loving and appreciative memory of late SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall.
As well as awarding at least £50 to the first racer to record a Perfect ET at supported events, the Scheme is designed to encourage
everyone in the racing community to continue their generous support of Bloodwise.

Derek and Fiona Flynn of longtime Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV have supported
the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award since 2008. Last year Derek decided to sponsor the Perfect ET Award in aid of the National Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. "We would like to thank all racers who contributed to this campaign", he says. "Whilst most racers
understood that stickers were required, and we were so pleased to see many of the Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals on so many cars and bikes,
it was not understood that we were also encouraging donations to NSPCC. Fiona and I together with Eurodragster.com have chosen to support
Bloodwise this season. We would like to encourage all racers to make a donation of
£1 for each race event they plan to contest. Should you wish to donate your Perfect ET winnings, or a percentage, to
Bloodwise then that would be great and we can arrange that for you.

"Donations can be easily made on-line at www.bloodwise.org.uk/donate or
a collection box can be found with Richard Walters in the Super Pro ET pits, or at the Gold
RV Racing pit when we are racing. Thank you in anticipation of your support for this great cause.

"We would also like to thank Pete Walters of fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters
Race Design for again designing the year's Perfect ET decal free of charge."

The inaugural Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting Bloodwise of £50 will be posted at next weekend's Festival of Power at
Santa Pod Raceway. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index.
The Perfect ET Award is available during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street,
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ET Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch and Junior Drag Bike, but will
only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won at the Festival of Power then the Award will be increased to £75 for Big
Bang, again at Santa Pod Raceway on the following weekend; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Big Bang.

To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Bloodwise decals, one on each side of the
vehicle. If you pull an event's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next
person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On office from
Thursday morning.

Cath and Tig Napier of Bad Habit Racing are again kindly sponsoring the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award which also
starts at £50 at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time
of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for
the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for Big Bang; if it is won then it will
be reset to £50 for Big Bang.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff.

We hope to enter all six rounds of the MSA Pro Mod Championship. We have a few things to prove with our performance and needless to say like those of all the other teams our
winter has been very busy trying to get everything together for the season and making that sure we can overcome any eventualities as we improve upon our performance.

I am very proud to say that we have Lucas Oil Products UK back on board for this season. We have had the honour of being
supported by Lucas for some years now and they supply genuinely great products and support. Gemini Accident Repair Centres,
at whose Leeds site I am General Manager, continue to support us too and of course I thank them for that also. Kenny Coleman has always been a big support with the help and services he
provides at Engine Data Analysis (EDA) in Castleford, 01977 516622. NGK Spark Plugs are back with us too, again great
products and support which we have enjoyed for several years. Thank you.

Unfortunately Easter will be the last time that we will be running with the EMACS logo on our car and rig. We have been very
grateful for the support which EMACS have given us as principal sponsor for the last two years; this may be a relationship we see again in the future. Again thank you to everyone at
EMACS.

Like any team we would love to chat to any potential sponsors. You never know what we could do to advertise your business and further the exposure you receive. Please contact
us via our web site at www.luckydevil777dragracing.com.

Archie's eight-year wait ends.6th April: The UK's youngest Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racer, Archie Wray, is more than excited about his first
competitive outing at next week's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. Archie turned eight in January but has been planning his
racing career since the age of four, if not before.

"Archie has been coming to Santa Pod since he was two years old and absolutely loves it", said Emma Wray of Eurodragster.com sponsors
CEJ Training Services Ltd and
Phoenix Personnel. "His dad Kevin has been racing in various scenes
for over twenty years, his older brother Jake started to race his 105e Anglia in Old Skool Ford last year and he also marshals at Santa
Pod, and of course I work in Signing On at Santa Pod so Archie has been brought up around the drag racing scene. Kevin and Jake will be
crewing for him this season."

"Archie has been on countdown to getting into a Junior Dragster since he was four years old. Everyone knew him because he would come up
to the Pod and sit in all of the Juniors' cars and tell them that he would be racing one soon. Last year he started to get so excited
about his eighth birthday because that meant that he would be able to get his own car. He got his licence at the first Run What You Brung
at Santa Pod in January, the week after his birthday!"

Archie came up with the name The Shocker and and the design and colour scheme were all his own work. "Archie went along to
3 Sixty Wraps in Northampton with his picture of how he wanted the car to look",
said Emma. "They were so impressed with him that they have now sponsored him along with One
Day Web and Kejja Motorsport Ltd. The car was finished a couple
of weeks ago and Archie has already tested at a couple of Run What You Brungs.

"We would like to say a massive Thank You for help and support to Ian Marshall, Darren Prentice, Carole Ismail, the whole Deevey family...
the list is endless! Thank You also to Andy Fensome for all of his time, help and advice: Archie says that he is taking it all on board."

Archie himself said "I am buzzing and can't wait for Easter. I have been waiting for this my whole life."

A Beastly Audi.6th April: After buying a new car last Autumn and testing Run What You Brungs, second-generation UK racer Rob
Creswell has been convinced to have a go in UK National Championship competition:

My Audi RS4 may not be seen as much of a beast compared to a Pro Mod or Nitro Funny Car, but some people outside of drag racing
have nicknamed my car The Beast. With high twelve-second quarter mile time slips and seven-minute Nurburgring lap times
possible, these cars can move a bit.

So far I have loved every second of driving this car and look forward to competing in Sportsman ET for the coming season. VW Sportsman
is also a possibility for me as I understand Audi is an acceptable brand of car for the class (One for you, Luke - Ed). Chris
Creswell will also be competing in Sportsman ET and Pete Creswell in Super Comp as well as in Sportsman ET at Big Bang and Bug Jam,
which should be a lot of fun!

We would like to wish everybody all the best for the 2017 season and to say a big thank you to our sponsors K&N, DemonTweeks, Goodridge,
Samco Sport, Powerflex, SuperPro suspension parts, SPAL automotive, and a special thanks to EpicTech Media - please visit
www.epictechmedia.co.uk.

Thanks to Paul Foote Ink.6th April: We are very grateful indeed to longtime Eurodragster.com sponsor
Paul Foote Ink for supplying the latest of several seasons' worth
worth of Eurodragster.com decals. Paul, whom Eurodragster.com readers will recall for his striking Super Gas pick-up, produced decals
in car and bike sizes and arranged for their delivery to Rogerham Mansions in a matter of days.

Paul Foote Ink, whose web site you can find at www.paulfoote.com, provide
end-to-end sign management from design to production and final installation. Prestigious clients include Siemens, The Crystal London,
Domino's Pizza and The Ace Café. Introduced in March 2017 were 2000mm x 800 mm roll-up banners from £29 including printing
and forty eight-hour turn-round, with twenty four-hour turnround available. These would make great promotional items in a racer's pit;
more details are available by clicking
here. You can talk to Paul Foote Ink on 01252 371445 or via the web site.

Please show your appreciation for the support of Eurodragster.com sponsors by considering their companies when shopping for goods and services.
Again a big Thank You to Paul.

Swift snippets.6th April: Good luck and stay safe to multiple FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King
who will be contesting the first date of his 2017 US Tour at the Spring Cup at Valdosta (See below). You will be able
to stay in touch with Ian's progress at Dragbike.com,
Stripbike.com, and on Ian's
Facebook page.

Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us tweaked final versions of the official entry lists
for the Festival of Power and Big Bang, which take place at Santa Pod Raceway on 14th-16th April and 21st-23rd April (racing 22nd-23rd)
respectively. You can check out the entry lists by
clicking here or by
clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

On the subject of the Festival of Power, 17:00 UK time tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline to order discounted Festival of Power
tickets. Some great deals are also available on VIP hospitality. For more details or to order your tickets check out
www.santapod.com.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Derek Flynn, long-standing sponsor of both Eurodragster.com and our Perfect Awards
Scheme (about which more tomorrow), and to former Top Fuel Dragster racer Kim Reymond who together with tuners Per Andersen and
Karsten Andersen made one of the most unforgettable runs in the history of European drag racing. Have a great day, both.

King confirms USA for 2017.6th April: Multiple FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King and the
Gulf Oil Dragracing team The Gulf Oil Dragracing team are
pleased to announce that they are to compete in the 2017 USA National Drag Bike Championship. Following a collaboration proposal from California-based
John and Dea Morgan Racing, alongside additional support from long time dragbike racing benefactor Joe Koenig of Trim Tex and a number of individual supporters,
the team were able to commit to compete in all five rounds of the Manufacturers Cup series.

2016 was a momentous year for the Gulf Oil Drag Racing team. Another record-setting tenth FIM European Championship was won, and in doing so Team Principal
and rider Ian King became the most successful rider in European drag bike racing history by accumulating more Championship points of any rider in any class over
the two decades since he began competing in the Championship. At the end of the season he diversified his sporting focus by using the very same Championship-winning
machine for a successful attempt to set a new FIM World Land Speed Record on a track and in conditions totally at odds with the environment in which he had been so
successful over his ten European drag racing Championships.

Following Ian's successful one-off race in the opening round of the 2014 USA National Championship, where he not only won the event but became the final permanent
member of the prestigious MTC Top Fuel 5 Second Club, invitations from the organisers to race the entire USA National Championship and the hopes and desires of his
many fans across the globe were compelling, so he and his team have been working on a programme to see if he could become the first European rider to do so since
the late Brian Johnson more than three decades ago.

Following the decision to ship his operation to the US Ian said "We are so much looking forward to this. We have such good friends in our class, fans across the world
and awesome sponsors that we owe it to them to take part in an all-new challenge. We would like to thank Gulf Oil, John and Deanna Morgan, Joe Koenig, Dave Vantine,
Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes, Mark Rendeluk, Ed Kelly, Scott Perri Roethemeier, John Stein, Frank Moya, the Maddox family, Sam Green, Neil Baskerville, Tamre Martin
and Jay Regan and Dave Schnitz of MFC alongside our fantastic technical partners who have stepped up far and beyond the call of duty to make it happen."

The Gulf Oil Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine.
The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their participation in the 2017
USA National Championship:

APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikesBell Helmets (UK) - The most iconic name in helmets, since 1954Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gasketsGates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulicsGoodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systemsGrand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and presentGraphite Additive Manufacturing - A leader in 3D printed technologies and rapid prototypingGulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricantsHotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud TirochHyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikesJE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistonsJohn and Dea Morgan Racing - The creators of the world's most advanced New Age Funny BikeKibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the marketMickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the worldMRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systemsMTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the worldNitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalistsNCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsportNGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturerPär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.comPortable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies availablePro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiatorsTrim-Tex - The premier manufacturer of vinyl drywall beads and accessoriesTryka LED - The UK's cutting edge LED lighting manufacturerVan Es mobility - The leading manufacturer of telematic products for management of moving objectsVanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goodsWeb Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshaftsWorldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racingZodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts

Web site updates.6th April: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with
Gearhead Garage Paul Marston brings us up to date with the
construction of his twin-turbo Cortina. You can take a look by clicking
here or by clicking on the Gearhead Garage Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

We figure that the girl in question did so deliberately, so now we need to track her down so that we can forward her a copy of the picture. The car
was a very well-turned-out red 2015 Ford Fiesta ST and ran in the right lane at 19:07 on Saturday (click on picture at right to see the car).

If this is you, or if you know who it is, then please get in touch or put her in touch with us at
editor@eurodragster.com.

The Clencher rolls away.4th April: After many years building The Clencher 100e and then undergoing cycles of racing, crashing, repairing and
racing again the UK's Duncan Scott decided that the time had come to sell the car:

All of my friends tried to talk me out of it (sorry Charlie) but it had to go. Adverts were placed and a buyer was found, but he only wanted the car
as a roller as he has a bigger (!) engine than the one in the car. And I thought I was nuts!

So the engine is now for sale at a very reasonable price under Parts For Sale the
Jeff Bull Race EnginesSwap Meet. So to all you wannabe Supercharged Outlaws or any other class for that matter
it's time to grab a bargain.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up racing. The Clencher will be reborn into a different 100e, this time a Gasser. I'd like to take this opportunity
to thank all the people who helped me with the car over the years. I could do a list but this web site has limited space! Suffice to say thanks, its
been epic, you all know who you are.

Kicking off the Dart era.4th April: Nigel Taylor writes that Arthur Bonner, original builder and driver of the Detroit Spinner
Prefect, is ready to make his return to the drag strip at this weekend's Public Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway:

The Ford Prefect is now fitted with a 555 ci Dart motor mated to the Fairbanks Clutch Turbo 400 gearbox, so the Test and Tune
side of things is probably a wise move as Arthur has always run Pontiac power. This new powerplant era should liven the old gal
up a little and may take a little getting used to. Arthur originally built this car in a shed at the bottom of his garden and
originally raced it over forty years ago! A great engineer, welder, racer and mechanic, Arthur is now seventy five years old and
more enthusiastic than ever.

Swift snippets.4th April: Best wishes for a rapid recovery from Tog, Simon, Kirstie and Julian to Eurodragster.com
Contributing Photographer Grace Roaf who has an arm in a cast after her motorbike rudely declined to carry her
any further on Sunday. It could have been a lot worse but for Grace's mechanical knowledge and presence of mind as she
had realised that something was amiss and had already taken mitigating action before the bike suddenly took its leave of
her. Those who know Grace will not be at all surprised to hear that she is not letting her injury beat her and that she
is carrying on more or less normally. Get Fully Fixed Soon Grace, this year's first photographic job with us is fast
approaching.

We will be testing the Eurodragster.com Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsportwebcam at this weekend's
Run What You Brung (Saturday) and GTi Festival (Sunday) at Santa Pod Raceway. As the kit is on test, broadcast may stop and
start without warning, the sound level may go up and down, and captions may appear at random. You can check out this season's
webcast schedule by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing
Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please be sure to read both the coverage schedule and
the webcam landing page carefully, as queries already answered on either page will not be answered.

Web site updates.4th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with a gallery of shots from the Saturday of
Shakespeare County Raceway's recent first Public Test Weekend. You can check out Mad's pictures at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.

New partners in education.4th April: Santa Pod Raceway and Bedford College have launched a pioneering new initiative designed to benefit members of the
College's special-needs community. A two-part pilot scheme finds Santa Pod providing workplace experience to selected students among the community.

The pilot scheme began in February when Santa Pod displayed a Top Fuel Dragster on Bedford College's campus. The display enabled students to view
and examine at close quarters the most powerful type of racing machine in world motorsport – capable of generating 10,000 brake horsepower and
reaching 300 mph in just four seconds. A fortunate few were even able to squeeze into the tight confines of the car's cockpit.

Part two of the pilot scheme will take place this Easter weekend when selected members of the student community attend Santa Pod's Festival of
Power. The students will shadow members of the Santa Pod staff to learn for themselves the diversity of work involved in conducting a large-scale
public event.

Santa Pod's Commercial Manager Caroline Holden explains: "Despite our Northamptonshire postcode, Santa Pod is a Bedfordshire business, and we're
always keen to pursue initiatives that will benefit our home county. We were delighted when Bedford College contacted us to explore the possibilities
of such a programme and we hope that, as it develops, it will provide significant value to the College and its special-needs community. It's a rare
opportunity for the students, for sure, but we think it might also offer a valuable experience to our staff members, giving them a fresh insight into
the work they do."

The initiative was the brainchild of Bedford College's Supported Employment Co-ordinator, Gareth Scorer, who says: "When I approached Santa Pod with
an ambitious idea that combined a visit from Santa Pod and a final work experience project for several students to have an opportunity to work at the
Festival Of Power, I never imagined just how successful the visit to college would be; how fascinated all the students were and just how much support
has been shown by Santa Pod in making this ambitious project come alive. The students selected to work at the Festival Of Power are extremely excited
and feel very privileged to be given this opportunity. I anticipate developing a range of projects that will enhance what Santa Pod already offers and
support our students to gain valuable work skills."

"If this pilot scheme works as well as we anticipate", says Caroline Holden, "I expect there will be further practical links we might develop with
Bedford College, and we look forward to building the connection."

"The whole team did a fantastic job to get the car ready in just a few months, and the outcome is really fantastic", said a proud Marck Harteveld about the
flashy green and purple Superbird (Designed by Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters
Race Design - Ed).

Those who are familiar with the team's projects know that these projects are always special but, once again, the audience was surprised at the first glimpse
of the creation. The silver-grey Dodge Daytona which rolled into the shop in September last year was turned into a spectacular Plymouth Superbird. In addition
to the outside of the Superbird, Voodoo Hemi Racing also spent many hours to rebuild and renew the inside of the ex-Pete Farber NHRA Pro Mod. The team made some
adjustments to the chassis, welded some parts of it and painted it again, renewed the wiring, and all other parts were inspected, adjusted or renewed when
necessary. Although the 526 cubic inch Hemi engine and driveline are from the team's 2016 Pro Mod, the engine was stripped, inspected and rebuilt as well.

Last year Marck Harteveld surprised by finishing his rookie year in seventh position in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, claiming runner-up spot
in the prestigious NitrOlympX and setting stunning personal bests of 6.12 seconds and 231 mph (372 km/h). "With the same 3,000 bhp we had last year, but
a much lighter and 100% Pro Modified-designed car, we will try to break the five-second barrier this season", said Marck.

The new Voodoo Hemi Racing '70 Plymouth Superbird will make its track debut at the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, round one of the 2017 FIA
European Pro Modified Championship. The team plan to do three more races of the MSA British Pro Modified Championship and two more rounds of the FIA
European Championship this season. "We wanted to make our first runs at Easter at Santa Pod, but as there are still some parts on their way from the States
we are running out of time and don't want to take any risks with a new car" said Marck about Voodoo Hemi Racing's difficult decision.

Swift snippets.3rd April: Congratulations to UK Jet pilot Martin Hill who blasted both of his PBs with runs of
5.077 seconds (yesterday) and 306.27 mph (Saturday) in the Fireforce 5 Jet Dragster. We were fortunate enough to be
testing our webcast kit at Santa Pod at Santa Pod on Saturday and happened to have our primary cameras recording so we were
able to edit together a video of Martin's 306 mph run...

..as well as a video of one of Roger Goring's check-out passes in the Firestorm Jet FC. We also posted a small gallery from Saturday's
Run What You Brung which is presented in association with John Woolfe Racing and which
you can check out by clicking
here.

If you fancy crewing on a Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator car then Adrian Booth is looking for team members
to join him for an assault on the class in 2018. Adrian, who is based in the Halifax area, offers the chance to be involved
in the construction of the car and says that body or paintwork skills would be an advantage although not as essential as
enthusiasm. More details under Drivers / Crew Required on our
Jeff Bull Race
Engines-sponsored Swap Meet.

Not really a spy picture, more of an exclusive. With the Festival of Power fast approaching, and with memories of 2008 still
as clear as if it were yesterday, UK Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET racer Phil Toppin has been in touch to show that
he is prepared for any eventuality next week.

Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us the final version of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at
Santa Pod Raceway on 21st-23rd April (racing 22nd-23rd). You can check it out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. If you have any queries about Big Bang entry then you can contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Our good friend Lena Perés has been in touch to let us know that she has posted a feature about the Top Doorslammer
plans of Finland's Laura Saksa on the Drag Racing Europe Blog. You can check it out by
clicking here.

Congratulations to the single reader, namely DD of the Podington Peas, who realised that Saturday's
story about Santa Pod Raceway's LED Christmas Tree contained a significant April Fool element, although not of course a filament.
That SPR's Christmas Trees are all to be fitted out for LEDs is of course true, but that each LED has to be inserted by hand was complete BS
as was the pay-off line about the scoreboards. Congratulations DD; you will be notified of your prize verbally (Have a
guess - Ed).

(Lots) more on LEDs.1st April: Further to yesterday's news item,
work is continuing apace to install the LED lighting system into Santa Pod Raceway's Christmas Tree in time for its first
use at the Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day on 13th April and then the Festival of Power. Timekeeper David Anniwell
told Eurodragster.com that it could be a close thing.

"We have to install each LED by hand", said David. "That sounds easy enough but the LEDs are very small, there are eighty LEDs
in each bulb, and on there are thirty bulbs on a Championship Tree. We are installing and soldering in shifts. Kieran takes over
from me when I need a break and Adam and James are lined up to take their turn."

When the Christmas Tree upgrade is complete the next project is to change the finish line scoreboards to LEDs. David said
that the scoreboards use the same LEDs as the Christmas Tree so it will be a major undertaking.

Swift snippets.1st April: DD and all of the Podington Peas asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Santa Pod
Barn legend Charlie Chicken. We are very happy to do so, have a great day Charlie.

Extra burnouts at Santa Pod.1st April: The European Burnout Championship is set to hold its first round of 2017 at Santa Pod Raceway on the Saturday of the
Festival of Power (15th April). EBC have been working with the Australian originators and organisers to bring the Championship to the shores of the UK and after
the first test event at Ultimate Street Car in 2016 they are set for a smokey 2017!

So how can you get involved and what are the rules? Well, it's pretty simple:

Get your entry ticket via www.fueltopia.co.uk. It's just £20 to enter with a prize purse of
£100 up for grabs.

Each driver is able to take one attempt per session

Scores will be marked out of a 300 judged total (400 if guest judge)

Please look out for flags when on track
1. Red- STOP. Run deemed as dangerous and will be a DNF (fire, fluid leak, dangerous driving etc)
2. Yellow- Start your run

Burnouts must last longer than one minute but no more than two minutes. Less or more results in point deductions (one per every five seconds), we will sound fog horn
at one minute and two minutes

Time starts at drop of flag until both tyres are burst, the driver has decided to end his/her run by either coming to a complete stop, by crossing the finish line.

SPR Tree goes LED.31st March: Darren Prentice tells us that Santa Pod Raceway will be this season be using a Christmas Tree with
LED lights. The first outing for the new LED Tree will be at the Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day on Thursday 13th
April, and then it will be in competitive use from the Festival of Power on 14th-16th April.

Electric Juniors for UK.31st March: Further to David Withington's news item of 6th March
Phil Evans, who heads up the UK's Tech Committee as well as serving on the FIA Drag Racing Commission, tells us that work is
underway to introduce Electric Junior Dragsters to UK competition:

At the last Technical Committee meeting we discussed the possibility of allowing Electric Junior Dragsters to run in competition with conventionally-powered
cars and consequently I have been in touch with the America's National Electric
Drag Racing Association to discuss the adoption of their rules, as NHRA and IHRA have done. I have been communicating with John Metric who is the Technical
Director of NEDRA and they are pleased for us to base our rules on their regulations. Apparently both Jonny Smith and Sam Young have built their vehicles using the
NEDRA construction rules as a guideline.

For complete information please see the NEDRA Electric Junior Dragster rules at
www.nedra.com/jr_dragsters.html. You will see that they retain the
basic ET structure with the age category catered for by altering voltages (i.e. power available). The construction of the chassis is to the same standard as conventional
cars.

If anybody wants to discuss this matter then please E-Mail me at p.evans@atlanticfluidtech.com.
I plan to hold a mid-season tech meeting and electric vehicles will be high on the agenda.

Swift snippets.31st March: Longtime readers will remember our 2015 April Fool, which amongst other things
convinced a large number of readers that model Melanie Bond would be fronting our
Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts. In
an amusing case of life imitating art Eurodragster.com received a marketing E-Mail from a French company offering us
a similar service (right). So you see people lift our ideas even when we're joking...

Today (Friday) is the closing date for standard-fee entry to Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 21st-23rd
April (racing 22nd-23rd). You can download the official entry forms via the Information link of the Santa Pod Racers Club
web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. You can check out the current Big Bang
entry list by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. If you have any queries about Big Bang then you can contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Kuwait's Hussain Al Shammari is planning a return to FIA European Championship competition in 2017, this time in
his own Camaro. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

VP Racing Fuels and Santa Pod Raceway will be offering one nineteen-litre pail of any VP fuel to the winner in the following classes at the Festival of Power, FIA / FIM Main Event, SPRC
Summernationals, FIA / FIM European Finals and UK National Finals:

Super Pro ET

Pro ET

Super Comp

Super Gas

Junior Dragster

Super Street Bike

8.50 Bike

9.50 Bike

To be eligible for this fantastic offer:

Teams must purchase their VP Racing Fuels from the Pod Shop or from Santa Pod Raceway's on-line store

Teams must display two VP Racing Fuels stickers on their race vehicle; these can be collected from Signing On or from the Pod Shop / Garage

The team must have won at any of the above events in their selected class

To claim their prize teams should take their VP Racing Fuels voucher and proof of purchase to the Santa Pod Shop.

Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 11 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa
Pod Raceway on 14th-16th April. You can check out the entry list on our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored Festival of Power Event Index by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

If you have any queries about Big Bang or Festival of Power entry then you can contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Official entry forms for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 29th April-1st May,
are available to download from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.

One Daimler good, two...29th March: UK Super Pro ET racer Robin Read has been in touch to let us know that he has picked up his new
250" wheelbase dragster from Wayne Allman's Intergalactic Custom Shop:

I would like to thank the hugely-talented and multi-faceted Wayne for his input and effort with the project so far.

Once we got the car back to our own workshop we carried out a full appraisal of the overall project, which we then set against our own requirements and
expectations. We realised that there were areas of design and construction which we needed to adjust. The process of turning a metal fabrication into a
functional race car has already started and it is still our wish to be testing later this year.

We have not been idle with our historic and iconic record-holding Daimler-powered dragster. After running 6.84/193 in October 2016 it was felt that the first 200 mph pass
from a British-engined dragster was not only possible but achievable with our little car. But! We needed taller gears again than the 3.5 to 1 ratio which we had previously
run. Such gears are not available and in fact not even manufactured any more . The only way forward was to go for a taller tyre to increase the roll-out per revolution but
this wasn't possible with our old wheels and so we acquired some period Centreline Convo Pro wheels and tyres from Chris Orthodoxou. The new (old) wheels and tyres
had a different bolt pattern and were taller and wider than our old wheels and tyres so we had to make new hubs. Whilst we were doing this and taking into account the
increase in loading we upgraded to 5/8" diameter wheel studs and also upgraded both the spool and drive shafts from 30-spline to 35-spline Mark Williams components.
The 40 spline outer drive plates were designed and manufactured by ourselves.

We thought that Dragstalgia 2017 would be a good choice to make the attempt at 200 mph and we will work towards that. We will have to go testing before that meeting
as the whole car has had a rebuild and freshen.

I would like to thank my crew for their endless and enthusiastic support with cars old and new: Bertie Hopkinson and Mark Evans, and of course Ella Chapman and Bill Mears.
It certainly wouldn't happen without them.

Swift snippets.29th March: Good luck and stay safe to Jonnie Lindberg (Fuel FC), Fred Hanssen (Top Alcohol Dragster) and Rob Turner
(Top Alcohol FC) who are contesting this weekend's Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and to Adam Flamholc and Mattias Wulcan
who are contesting this weekend's PDRA East Coast Nationals at Galot. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress
courtesy of Dragracecentral.com and the PDRA race will be webcast on
Speedvideo.com. Don't forget the
Lindberg brothers' awesome and frequently-updated web site and
Facebook page.

Per Bengtsson's company Bentec Engineering has signed up as a contingency sponsor for EDRS Pro Top Fuel Bike and Supertwin.
You can find out more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

No news update yesterday, for which apologies, so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to race car builder, tuner, British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Rob Loaring and to Jan Phersson of
Eurodragster.com sponsor Simpson Europe. Hope you had great
days, guys.

Fast Show Live.29th March: The UK's first permit race of the year is Round 1 of the 2017 FWD Drag Series which takes
place at this weekend's Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway and you will be able to tune on Facebook for live video of the racing
plus other show highlights. LikeSanta Pod Raceway
on Facebook and turn on notifications for live posts to be among the first to check out the action. Nitro FM will be
broadcasting from 18:00 on Saturday evening at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm.

The Eurodragster.com Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will start this year's
broadcasts with a test at the RWYB and GTi Festival at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-9th April followed by the Pro Peak Performance
Test and Tune Day on 13th April.

Web site updates.29th March: Congratulations to our good friend Alan Currans who is celebrating fifty years following
drag racing. Alan's first update this season is a gallery of Saturday's action at the Public Test and Tune at Shakespeare
County Raceway. You can check out the latest update via What's New at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

Nostalgia fans will want to speed over to Dick Parnham's Flickr site which has been updated with a gallery of
the NDRC event at Radlett in 1978. You can find Dick's shots at
www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing.

US Automotive back BDRHoF Gala.29th March: Another regular British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame supporter has announced that it will be sponsoring the 2017 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner which is being held at the Oatlands
Park Hotel, Weybridge on Saturday 18th November. That company is American parts supplier
US Automotive which has helped fund the Hall of Fame since it was established
in 2006.

Bedford-based US Automotive currently stocks in excess of 20,000 product lines which cover the most popular applications from the classics
of the 1950s up to current models and are updated regularly to follow market trends. The company supplies parts from the most respected
American manufacturers, including Crane Cams, Fel-Pro Gaskets, Clevite Engine Bearings, Sealed Power and TRW Engine Components, and provides
full technical support not only for its product range but also for American vehicles in general.

As a Primary Sponsor, US Automotive's sponsorship is extensive and includes funding the Souvenir Programme production costs, co-sponsoring
the Junior Drag Racing tables and table wine for all tables, plus help in other areas.

BDRHoF Honorary Chairman Stu Bradbury, who worked for US Automotive for many years, said "I was working at US Automotive when I set up the
BDRHoF back in 2006 and when I floated the idea to them they immediately made a decision to help fund things and have sponsored us every
year since. It is no exaggeration to say that without them the BDRHoF would not exist and I can't thank them enough for their encouragement
and financial support."

US Automotive Chairman Stewart Bassett said "We are pleased to continue our support of the BDRHoF team who throughout the whole year put
in an amazing amount of voluntary work to celebrate drag racing pioneers in style. The Annual Gala Awards Dinner is a fabulous event and
we are proud to be associated with it. It has become one of my favourite social occasions of the year. This one will be extra special for
us because US Automotive is celebrating its 20th Anniversary."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone at 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance,
so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on Eurodragster.com, and on
Facebook and Twitter.

Smax feels the heat in Florida.27th March: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch with a report of his weekend at
the NHRA Gatornationals, where he was again driving the Leverich family's car:

After one of our best seasons ever Gary Leverich and I reflected on what we had achieved in 2016. We had attended only six NHRA races but qualified and ended up
twenty second of thirty eight teams! We ran our first four-second quarter-mile pass at 4.9, got to the finals at the Mopar Nationals at Grand Bend, then won the Canadian
Nitro Nationals at Toronto Motorsport Park and ran my Personal Best of 4.84 with the blower belt coming off before 1200 feet - it would have been a 4.79/310. Not
to mention meeting some of the best names in drag racing!

With that in mind we now want to run our first three-second 300 mph thousand-foot pass so, confident we could achieve that, Gary made the call to go to the Gators in
Florida. Unfortunately my boy Aidan couldn't come as he had other plans that weekend, which was a bummer, but Gary has friends in Florida who help him a lot. Mark
Jones, Eric and Richard were to meet us there while Jacob (bottom end), Dan (cylinder head) and I drove to Detroit to catch a flight to Orlando on Thursday night. Gary
and Bob Leverich drove the truck and trailer the twenty two hours but before setting off on Wednesday night found a flat tyre but everywhere was closed. Gary put a plug
in but the truck tyre was too thick so he drove onto the spike and successfully penetrated the tyre so he could set off. Needs must!
We arrived at midnight then got a rental car and drove to the motel, finally getting to meet up with Lee Webb of the Shockwave team, who flew over to help us, at 2:30
am - he was waiting with a beer! We set the alarm for 5:30 am as we had a long drive to the track and there was a mandatory meeting for drivers and owners at NHRA
Hospitality at 9:00! We made it just on time only having had a fast food brekky, Jake and Dan had hit Denny's at 2:30 am so that they could survive. The meeting was really
positive that since Fox Sports 1 and 2 had taken over the TV the viewership had increased over 300% and sponsorship now looking a lot tastier now!

Gary and Bob had arrived the night before and got the car all tecched so we planned to do Q1. But then NHRA came over and complained that our Butler head restraint
had been tampered with so had to miss Q1 and go see Alan at Simpson to do a repair- thanx to Aaron from Hans who darted around to find SFI material. NHRA also
said to retag our mags so we had big thrash and were ready for Q2. We had some concerns over oil pressure but still decided to go out qualify.

We put English Lee out in front as my boy Ronan didn't attend either. I did a short burnout and backed up, then after stopping a chute fell out so I had to shut off. Bummer!
We went back and Mark Fedexed two new cables from California whilst I went to see my hero Scott Palmer who gave us two chutes as he had just got a sponsor deal for
two new chutes on his car, he also gave us one bag! We got everything ready and hit the Texas Steakhouse but there was a long wait so went to Denny's for food then next
with Lee to an Irish pub for green beer and St Paddy's Day!

Had to get up early again to get the car ready for Q3 as we were the only car not qualified. Fast food brekky and jumped back on the car. Fired up but no oil pressure! Long
story short, Gary discovered the system one filter screen was plugged even though clean, so left it out and got all the pressure back... phew! With chutes fixed and oil pressure
figured this was our chance for that three-second pass. Racing against Shawn Reed I did a nice burnout, staged nice and left first but 250 feet out it went bang and shut off. As
I had no radios or mirrors I didn't know that I had had a huge fireball so I just trickled over the finish line at 23 mph in fifteen seconds to make sure that we were qualified. I sat
in the car until the Safety Safari put the fire out.

Back in the pits it was another story. The brand new rod #1 rod had disintegrated and exited the block. We lost five points for the oildown. So a huge CSI to find out what
happened, as the piston, pin and rod bearing were OK and the data didn't show a misfire we were thinking rod failure but we were not sure. We asked Todd Okuhara of
Schumacher's team to look and he felt that we had an ignition malfunction causing a hydraulic and catastrophic rod failure. We pulled the whole ignition off the car and Aaron
Grant came over with Audrey to help so he went through our ignition. Todd kindly offered to take all our stuff back and check through it for free! MSD had just checked the
mags and Scott Palmer gave us two coils, Aaron checked the boxes and harnesses and rewired whilst I looked at our dated kill switch. Many thought that could have been
an issue although we replaced our mag clamps with billet off Scott Palmer's team. We put our spare short block in and thrashed to the wee hours, although I sneaked over
to Larry Dixon's pit to meet his amazing family and have a little food. I didn't see much qualifying but said Hi to our man Jonnie Lindberg. We got back to the hotel at around
2:00 am, a quick beer at the Irish pub then a hot bath and set the alarm for 5:30 am!

The first round was scheduled for 11:00 am and I had number one qualifier Tony Schumacher. There was only 305 mph difference between #1 and #16! We got all done
and fired up, scared the crap out of the fans with Gary's huge nitro whacks and got a standing ovation. We got such a warm welcome and lots of fans wishing us on.
I went down to the driver introduction with Audrey and connected with a lot of drivers as well as getting asked for autographs from fans who thought I was Sammy Hagar!
We got the call and towed down. Did my burnout then disaster! The brakes were failing so I shot past Lee and rolled to a stop, got in reverse and not wanting to use up
what was left I backed up real slow so I wouldn't risk backing into anyone. All was OK even though everyone including the TV announcer was wondering why but I had
to keep my cool as no radios. I then went to pre-stage the car but it rolled through into deep stage. I waited for Tony to pre-stage then highsided but on the yellows I redlit.
I went to 300 feet and the car shook so I lifted and rolled to a stop. There was brake fluid on the track which counted as oildown #2 and on race day you lose five points
and pay a fine of $2000.

I was bit disappointed. I went to Tony Schumacher's pit to apologise and explain what had happened but he was cool. We then went to service the car for Audrey to do
licencing runs on Monday but disaster again - we had spun bearings, not sure why, so couldn't risk the line bore. We packed up and headed to the Texas Steakhouse for
drinks and food... I think I was the only vegetarian in the place! Friend Les and Gary and his granddaughter had driven their RV from Canada so we shot over and picked
them up too. Saw Jonnie, Johan and Karsten in there then I was going to party with Palmer's gang back at the track but found out that he was at a racers' bar so we turned
around and joined him. Over the course of the weekend it was great to see Liam Jones and Gary Page as well as Monique and Roel Koedam, Stig Neegaard and his missus
and Andy Wilsheer. On Sunday night Gary was with Tommy Johnson Jr at the same bar, a great night then back to the track to party in Les' RV then finally back to motel
around 3:00 am, one last beer in the Irish pub with Jake and Lee. Lee was a great help all weekend and helped Jake on the bottom end while Mark Jones helped Gary, Eric
worked on the clutch, and Richard ran around doing everything and proved his worth. It was a shame that Aidan wasn't there though.

As Audrey was not running and our flight home wasn't until 6:30 pm we went back to the track to watch testing. Watched and chatted to Anthony from Gas Monkey and Ulf
Leanders as well as watching Nitro Funny Cars testing. The big highlight was Nico from Iron Maiden who was with the Tequila team, I got to chat to him and Maiden are
touring so he invited our crew to the show in New Jersey when we are at Englishtown. Gary is a huge Maiden fan and has offered to wrap our car to promote their tour so
see we'll see how that pans out, but it's positive!

We'll hopefully get all our damage sorted and head to Charlotte for the Four Wide at the end of April. I will race and we will test with Audrey on the Monday. Hopefully all of
the minor dramas of last weekend are behind us and the crew will be dialled in to the car and back on the mission for that three-second pass. Big thanks to Gary and Bob and
all the crew for their really hard work all weekend.

Swift snippets.27th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with
no words. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

We were very pleased to hear that Germany's Werner Habermann Racing will be fielding both Timo's and Dennis' Top
Methanol Dragsters on the full FIA European Championship Tour this season. Stay tuned for more.

EDRS Comp Eliminator Champion and full-time genius PerErik Lindgren will be swapping his dragster for a Doorslammer
this season. Courtesy of our good friend Lena Perés you can read all about it on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking here.

Your News Editor stopped by Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday to plan the installation of the webcam PC into the track's
reconfigured network (Thanks to Julian Parsons for his time - Ed) and whilst there he photographed trackside for
an hour or so. You can check out our small Run What You Brung gallery, which is presented in association with
John Woolfe Racing, by
clicking
here.

Standard-fee Festival of Power entry closed yesterday (Friday); entry may still be accepted but if so then may be subject to
a Late Entry penalty.

Next Friday, 31st March, is the closing date for standard-fee entry to Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on
21st-23rd April (racing 22nd-23rd); you can download the official entry forms via the Information link
of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

If you have any queries about Festival of Power or Big Bang entry then you can contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Official entry forms for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 29th April-1st May,
are available to download from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.

Malta's own Mister Six.25th March: We were very pleased to hear that Simon Giordmaina's Super Street Bike, ridden by Franklyn Borg, blasted
into the sixes at Malta's Hal Far Raceway last weekend. With Shawn Buttigieg also on the facility at Round 1 of the Malta Drag Racing
Association Championship the race was on to the first six, as Gabriel Briffa writes:
Simon, Franklyn and the team made changes to the turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa to continue where they left off in 2016, when they set a National Super Street Bike ET Record of 7.091
seconds. It all started on Friday with back-to-back test passes of 7.24 and 7.14, going past the 200 mph mark for the first time at 200.40 and 201.4.

Meanwhile Shawn Buttigieg took over the National Record with a 7.08 pass, backed up later with a 7.07, meaning that Simon's team needed to step up their game. During Saturday
qualifying everything showed that the air and track conditions were better than last November as the bike went 7.11 with a Personal Best speed of 206 mph straight off the trailer
and all the incrementals showing that a six-second pass was not an impossible dream any more. Later on the team backed it up with a 7.083 at an astonishing 208.40, which made
them believe that it could really happen.

After a lot of data analysis from Simon doing his magic on the MoTeC and AMS2000, and discussion with Franklyn between passes about changes in the tune-up
trying to make the combination work between all of the components, the bike was ready for eliminations. The air and track conditions were ideal. The team had two set-ups
ready and decided at the last minute not to go for the aggressive set-up. The bike left the line, stayed on the ground and ran a 1.23 at sixty feet, then a 4.64 eighth mile showed
up on the scoreboard. We thought "This could be it". The win light went on and all the hard work paid off, 6.993 at 208.95.

It was once a dream, but not any more. Not only a National Record in its class but Simon's bike was the first Super Street Bike to run in the sevens in Malta and now the first SSB to
run in the sixes, and it also puts the bike third in Europe of the active registered bikes under FIM Europe SSB rules.

It could not have been a better weekend for us after the non-stop hard work since last November: coming back and qualifying first in both SSB and Open and winning both finals.
Simon, Franklyn and the whole team would like to take this opportunity to thank firstly Rodney Williford for helping and consistently pointing us in the right direction, MTC Engineering
for the amazing clutch, and NLR for power control and more. A special Thank You goes from Simon to Franklyn for doing a great job riding the bike and for also helping out, to Leli
for all the help, to Gabriel for the support and now Press and Media Relations, and to George for finding the time for hard work at the workshop. Special big thanks go to all the people
who have always supported us and continue to do so, again the feedback from you on the stands was something special: you can never explain how happy it makes you when you see
the stands cheering at what you just achieved so thank you all again. We have to say a big Well Done and Thank You to the MDRA for putting on such a great event and giving us a
track which can handle what we throw at it. Thanks to our parents who support and care for us: Charles and Carmen, and Marcell and Doris. Last but not least Simon and Franklyn
want to thank their wives and children for the full support they always give, even when it sometimes means less time with them. We love you and we thank you for being there backing
us up all the time.

There were more National Records at Hal Far last weekend including Duncan Micallef's 4.03/303 Top Fuel Dragster record and courtesy of our good buddy Remco Scheelings you
can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by clicking
here.

With many taking full advantage of the weekend the track will host its first in a series of the popular Bracket Gamblers races
open to all doorslammers and street legal cars as entrants roll the dice and hopefully they'll win some money in return! Details can be found on the
ET Bracket Race Facebook page.

The weekend also features the first 2017 outing for Roger Goring's popular Firestorm Jet Funny Car as the test and development work continues
before the team launch into a full programme of appearances in the UK and Europe.

The track will be open from 10.00 am each day and caters for all competitions cars, bikes and street legal machines which are all welcome to come to
test those winter modifications or just shake those winter blues out of their systems!

General admission is £12 per person each day or £22 for a weekend pass, track fee is £25 each day or £40 for a weekend
of unlimited runs. Helmets are required along with a full driving licence. Overnight camping is available on the purchase of a weekend ticket. Kenny's
Bar will also be open on Saturday night. So for a great weekend of fun on the drag strip make it Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend! You can
find out more at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.

Swift snippets.22nd March: Kerryanne van den Berg writes that 2016 Most Professional Appearing Team winners
Shark Attack Drag Racing will be fielding no less than five racers this season and that it will be a family affair:
her daughter Bobby Frazier (below) in Comp Bike, daughter Meggie Talbot in Junior Drag Bike, husband Rene van den
Berg in Top Fuel Bike, nephew Tonny van den Berg also in Comp Bike, and nephew Louis Davies in ET Bike.

Complementing yesterday's report of the SFI Tour's UK stop, our good friend Lena Perés writes about the new
generation of SFI inspectors attending the Swedish stop. You check it out on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.

Michael Dowdy has been in touch to ask us to wish a big Happy 12th Birthday to his son, UK Junior Dragster racer Matthew
Dowdy. Our pleasure, have a very Happy Birthday Matthew. "Matthew is looking forward to getting the dragster back from
Hauser Race Cars where the engine has been refreshed and the harness straps updated", says Michael. "A big Thank You to Gary
Lockyer of Wootton Tyre & Exhaust for his continuing support."

How to join in the Havoc.22nd March: The next stop on the Havoc Fuel Altered's US Tour will be the
Holley
National Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green, Kentucky on 15th-17th June and Geof Stilwell of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
sponsor Beech Underwriting writes that you too can be there
at an affordable price:

It's one of the biggest events of the year, with a huge car show and you are near the Corvette museum so it's a great few days.

Nashville is the nearest main airport and Bobby at Dial-a-Flight (01732 593050) has loads of flight or fly-drive deals for those who want to support the team.
If you are going then make sure you get your hotel booked as lodgings near the track are limited.

The March Meet was well attended by us Brits, so please come and support our boys.

SFI Tour hits Santa Pod.21st March: The fourth and final leg of the 2017 European SFI Recertification Tour took place at Santa Pod
Raceway yesterday (Monday). Simon went along to talk to the inspection team and racers attending:

SFI Foundation President Arnie Kuhns said that this would be his
final tour and we wish him well for the future. Since becoming president of SFI Foundation in 1984, Arnie has seen it grow to
encompass around one hundred member sanctioning bodies and well over three hundred individual equipment manufacturers who
participate in more than eighty five specification programmes.

Arnie said "I have been involved in the SFI European Tour for more than twenty years since before the FIA Championship began
and around ten years before that. The overall attitude has become more and more professional. The sanctioning bodies know what
they're doing and racers are highly co-operative."

Since the passing of the much-missed Tim Hyatt in December 2015, Arnie has had his eye towards succession on the tour. This time,
the place of Murf McKinney on the SFI European Tour was taken by L-G Eriksson, now running ME Racing Services in Börlange, Sweden.
Luke Robinson has succeeded Tim Hyatt as clutch specialist, and Eurodragster.com sponsor
Andy Robinson continues to inspect clutch cans and flexplates. The
administration is handled by full-time SFI employee Jennifer Faye who commented that, whilst numbers seem to be down in all countries
on the tour, there are increasing numbers of automatic transmissions in many classes.

In association with Lucas Oil Products we are pleased to present a gallery of the day
which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the
Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Whilst photographing the SFI Day for our Feature we also garnered a few Pit Notes which are presented below in the order in which we spoke to the
racers:

Dave Milam of the She Devil Top Methanol Funny Car team, with driver Steph, said "Our new ex-Dan Larsen Stratus was ready at the
European Finals and then the class was cancelled a week before the event. We can't see any improvement in class numbers for this year so the
car is now for sale as a rolling chassis. We will be running the previous car as an altered at Dragstalgia with a modified front wing to help
the drivability, and plan to extend our European record of 6.18 further."

Karl Harrison of the NUA RKS Top Methanol Dragster team is busy with Rod Harrison's car and completing the Beetle Nostalgia Funny Car
due out later in the year. He said "There was very little damage last year apart from our torque converter at Hockenheim and so work has
been mainly freshening. For the dragster, we will be doing the same schedule as last year: Festival of Power, Main Event, Hockenheim and European
Finals. Andy's Beetle is due for a mid-season début and I will be getting involved with Simon Barlow's team later in the year as well."

Ashley Bell will be back in his familiar Super Pro ET AC Cobra with a new black paint scheme, after taking most of the last three years
off, with a sole appearance at the Mopars last year. His first event this year will be in Super Pro ET at the FIA Main Event.

Jon Best will be making his return to the track in a '78 Corvette-bodied Nostalgia Funny Car. "It's the old Chaos Fuel Altered
chassis which we had altered with the cage reduced in height by around eight to ten inches for a lay-down driving position and a wheelbase of
125 inches. The body is a brand-new Lowlife Customs fibreglass item from former Motorsports announcer Army Armstrong. The engine is an aluminium
Big Block Chevy with Arias heads. We will be joined by US Nostalgia Top Fuel racer Brendan Murry at Dragstalgia, as our engine set-up is identical
to Brendan's with the exception of a twenty one-gallon fuel pump on the Funny Car as opposed to twenty-gallon in Nostalgia Top Fuel."

Super Mod racer Peter Thompson will be making a return to racing in his '68 Chevelle after a break in driving of four years. The car crashed
in 2011 and Peter had it rebuilt and out in 2012, after which he had "A year out that became four years". This time he will be racing his nitrous
Powerglide machine in Competition Eliminator.

Former JDS Street racer James Willday had a low nine second RX7, last seen in 2012, but has now built a RX8 for JDS Pro and Super Pro ET
or Competition Eliminator. He said "I will be out in June or July. Hauser Racing fabricated the chassis and I have been working with Stuart at
Hausers on assembling the body, and the wiring which I will need to be familiar when I run the car. The engine revs to around 14,000 rpm and
getting the tuning right is really important as they don't handle detonation well. My sights are on running a six eventually, and the world record
for a rotary car is now in the mid-sixes."

Rob Elsom will be making his initial passes in his Dirty Deeds Firebird Nostalgia Funny Car at the Festival of Power after a two year
build.

Swift snippets.21st March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us updated entry lists for
the Festival of Power (Version 4) and Big Bang (Version 3). You can check out either entry list by
clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing
Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry
forms via the Information link of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Standard-fee Festival of Power entry
closes this Thursday (24th).

Mummy Stone remembered.21st March: Lesley Wright hears that she was so sad to hear that Mummy Stone had passed away:

I have such fond memories of her, always smiling and laughing, it was a joy to be in her company. Whether at Santa Pod, at the Brighton show or on race trips abroad to
Sweden, Italy and Switzerland you could always count on Mummy Stone – to go shopping! After making sure her 'Den', Dave, Gerry and Andrew had everything they
needed for the day, she was off. Independent and resourceful she enjoyed the bits of drag racing which she wanted to and then pleased herself with her time. Always
up for a cup of tea and a gossip in anyone's caravan or trailer, a breath of fresh air whenever you saw her. Mary was an inspiration in that whether at home or abroad, she
would hop on a bus and take herself off on her own little adventure for the day. Always back for dinner with entertaining tales of where she had ended up and who she
had spoken to. In doing this she allowed the boys the freedom to enjoy themselves too and concentrate on the racing.

She taught us girls how to survive the mistress that is drag racing, always remembered and celebrated birthdays in some small way, and made everyone feel special.

I am so grateful that Mummy Stone has been a big part in my life. My sincerest condolences to all the family.

SPRC would like to welcome both companies on board and thank them for their sponsorship commitment throughout the 2017 season.

Modurstang is a highly regarded UK-based Ford Mustang performance upgrade specialist. Conducting business in Chipping Norton, Mike Lacey and his team are waiting to help
prospective customers to take Mustangs from show room stock wherever their dreams want to take them. Modurstang can be contacted on 01608 678818 or via their web
site at www.modurstang.co.uk.

Mick Pusey's Gearhead Garage UK are well-known for supplying American vehicles to suit customers' requirements and parts to improve existing vehicles. They can even supply
bespoke garages in which to keep your pride and joy safe, warm and dry, Gearhead Garage UK can be reached on on 01335 372119 or 07973 740076, by E-Mail at
info@gearhead-garage.co.uk, or via their web site at
www.gearhead-garage.co.uk or of course on the right-hand side of Eurodragster.com News.

Please consider all of your sponsors, especially when looking to buy goods and services, and hopefully these good people will continue to come back and help our racers
where they can.

Swift snippets.19th March: Brian Taylor has been in touch with a tribute to Mary (Mummy) Stone who died on
Wednesday. "Sad news about Mary", he says. "She was a lovely lady with no side to her at all. I have many happy memories of her and my sympathies are
with the family. Drag racing has much for which to thank Mary and the Stone family."

Glen Read writes with his deepest and sincere sympathies to Dave, Vicky and all members of the Stone family. "The Reads and the Stones were strong competitors
on the track but even stronger friends off the track", he says. "We travelled so many thousands of kilometers together during the 1970s and 1980s. Our overseas
jaunts usually started at Review Rd where we were all welcomed, fed and watered and more. Mary was like a mum to our team also. I know that Jim used to spend
weekends off-season with Dennis and Mary. He came back always heavier and happier. RIP Mummy Stone."

"So sorry to hear this sad news", says Stu Bradbury. "I have fond memories of Mary and Dennis, in fact all the Stones family. Great pioneers of
drag racing. Their contributions are one of the reasons the sport exists today! Condolences to family and friends."

The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the
words "Package on its way, delivery address Santa Pod Raceway, 1320 Airfield Boulevard, Northampton". Probably not one
necessitating a rocket scientist but if you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

No news update yesterday for which apologies (Your News Editor successfully applied for an aegrotat - Ed) so we were unable to
say a big Happy Birthday to our good buddy Barry Bohannon. Hope you had a good birthday Barry, similarly we hope that
Darren West of Eurodragster.com sponsor Power Race Graphics
had a great birthday yesterday. On to today and big Happy Birthdays to Mick Pusey of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Gearhead Garage UK, and to Nigel Payne. Have a great day
both.

Father and daughter Dag and Kathrine Wagenius have been flying the flag for drag racing at the recent MC-Messen, where they also revealed their plans for
the 2017 EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship. You can take a look on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking here.

Staying with the 2017 EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship, Kristin Hegre will be following in son Jan-Sturla's footpegs by contesting Supertwin
Motorcycle in this year's Series. Again you can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking here.

Eurodragster.com sponsor MPM Oil has introduced MB9 Automatic Transmission Oil, a premium synthetic
automatic transmission oil especially developed for the latest-generation nine-speed automatic transmission from Mercedes-Benz for which the MB-approval 236.17 is recommended.
You can find out more (PDF format) by clicking here.

Fifty years of Nitro Thunder.19th March: Celebrating fifty years of Santa Pod Raceway and thereby fifty years of Fuel racing, longtime journalist
Mike Collins has compiled an in-depth feature especially for Eurodragster.com readers.

Mike's piece runs to thirty two pages, covering both the 2016 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship season and the history of Fuel
racing at Santa Pod Raceway since its opening day.

You can check out Mike's article, which comes in PDF format, by clicking here or by clicking
on the picture at right.

PMR's double date.19th March: Paul Marston Racing are pleased to announce that Paul's name will shortly appear in Super Gas and Super Street on the
official entry list for April's Festival
of Power at Santa Pod Raceway:

I will be driving at the opener with entries from the stable appearing in various classes as the season pans out including the inaugural No Prep Doorslammer
Nationals at North Weald Dragstrip on 2nd July and in UK Top Sportsman at the Mopar EuroNationals on 28th-30th July as well as other UK Championship dates.
Super Gas is where I cut my teeth, competing against what were then the very best Doorslammer drivers, and where I won first my National event, so in some ways
it's like coming home. With all the effort that Jon Giles has put into securing such a great sponsor, Super Gas needs racers to show their appreciation which is why
I will be competing in the class this season. Just as it was before, the class is chock-full of some very tough racers and teams. To win in Super Gas you most certainly
have to earn it. Sure the money helps, but I am excited about the new challenge of running a Pro tree again. Plus it's an even field: no dragsters, just Doorslammers
and the occasional roadster.

I will also be supporting Super Street. It's a great class, and as I played my part in getting SPRC to agree to the-double header at the two FIA events with the blessing
of Santa Pod Raceway I thought it only fair that I run that class too.

PMR will be fielding the 100% Whoopass Chevy Monza to kick the season off, but don't be surprised to see a change of race car as the season progresses with the
début of a purpose built Super Class doorslammer.

Regrettably PMR have lost some of their Super Crew over the off-season, but the Brains Trust stays intact and there will be some new additions as the season progresses.
At present all the crew are hard at it prepping everything to be 100% ready for the 2017 season, all that behind-the-scenes work which makes the team tick, and so long
as the weather plays ball we will be ready. Please stop by and say hello at Easter.

Mary (Mummy) Stone.16th March: We were very sorry to hear from Vickie Stone of the death yesterday (Wednesday) of Mary 'Mummy' Stone,
wife of Dennis Stone and matriarch of of the UK's legendary Stones Drag Racing Team:

Mum had returned to her roots in a County Cork, Ireland in 2014 and was enjoying a quiet life in the place where she was born. She was 91.

The picture at right was taken by the Barking and Dagenham Post many years ago when the Stones bought Stardust.

Our deepest sympathies to Vickie and to Dave, and to all of Mary's family and friends. If you would like to send a tribute to or share a story about
Mary then please E-Mail us at tributes@eurodragster.com.

2017 European Top Gas calendar.16th March: Many thanks to Herman Jolink for sending us this year's calendar for the
European Supertwin Top Gas Series. Herman writes:

Twenty two European Top Gas racers held a meeting at Molln in Germany to discuss the 2017 races. Jozef Hadnagy
invited us to Kunmadaras for the twentieth year celebration on 24th June and said that if we came then Top
Gas could have a two-day event, but there was one vote too few so we are going to Malmö twice in 2017.

Prior to the seminar, the Drag Racing Commission had a special meeting with Rezsö Bulcsu, director of FIM International's Commission of Circuit Racing together with FIM
co-ordinator Victoria Corredoira. This valuable meeting was scheduled to make a first list of issues regarding the plans for the new World Cup of Drag Racing. The overall conclusion
of the meeting was very positive although everybody agreed on the fact that there are a lot of issues to manage and solve. Left to right below left are
Reszö Bulcsu, Jozef Hadnagy (MAMS), Victoria Corredoira, and Job Heezen, Peder Eneroth, Palle Lind and Jari Halonen all of the Drag Racing Commission.

On day two of the seminar the real work started with training courses for Clerks of the Course and the Technical Steward licencees (above right). The training and
examinations for Clerks of the Course were run by Commission Chair Palle Lind and those for Tech Stewards by newly-appointed Commission member Job Heezen.

The turnout of candidates was very satisfying with people from England, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Hungary. Those trained will help to
bring the quality of the officiating and scrutineering to even highers level. New rules were explained, issues from previous seasons were communicated and there was
ample opportunity to exchange views during the day. Major attention was been given to the safety aspects of drag racing, a key issue for the Commission. All of the
licencees should be ready for some flawless operation in seasons to come.

Many thanks to our Hungarian hosts who did a wonderful job !

FIM Europe racers and others involved can check out important matters such as rule books, rule changes etc on the FIM web site or go to the Drag Racing Commission's
Facebook page.

...whilst Holmberg forgets 2016.16th March: 2016 was not the most fortunate of seasons for Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg with a broken
thumb necessitating wearing a cast for the first race of the season and a number of broken engines. Finishing ninth in the Championship after previous
top five finishes was disappointing but Kenneth says that it is all forgotten now and that he and his team have never been so well-prepared for an upcoming
season:

With two updated engines, a number of new sponsors and a tight team, we are really looking forward to 2017. Gabriella 'Gabbi' Nikolovska and Kent
'Kenta' Carlsson, our talented team members for many years, are helping us out at racers with family and friends. We will compete and focus upon all
of the FIM races and we will also race in the EDRS Pro series. One of the highlights is of course racing at our home track Tierp Arena in June and
August.

This year's goal is of course top position in the FIM European Championship. Hopefully there will be a World Championship at Hockenheim in 2018
if all goes as it should with the FIM and promoters.

The first round of the FIM European Championship will be held at Santa Pod Raceway in England at the end of May with great organisation and a
wonderful atmosphere. Before that we have a plan to test at Malm&oum; at the end of April. See you at the track!

Swift snippets.16th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us updated entry lists for
the Festival of Power (Version 3) and Big Bang (Version 2). You can check out either entry list by
clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing
Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry
forms via the Information link of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Good luck and stay safe to Smax Smith (Top Fuel Dragster), Jonnie Lindberg (Fuel Funny Car) and
Ulf Leanders (Top Alcohol FC) who are contesting this weekend's NHRA Amalie Gatornationals at Gainesville. Our heroes are in action from
Friday and you will be able to stay in touch courtesy of the Drag Race Central web site at
www.dragracecentral.com and on the racers' Facebook pages.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member
John Hackney. Have a great day Hackers.

London Motor Show SPRC discount.16th March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch with news of a special discount for
SPRC members:

The London Motor Show, which takes place in Battersea Park on 4th-7th May, is back again following a
highly-successful event last year with over 25,000 visitors. As the show is intended for all car enthusiasts, and before the show sells out again, the Show is offering Santa Pod Racers
Club members a special 10% discount on tickets. A special food and beverage area for Club members will also be on hand as a good meeting point with the added benefit of reduced
rates on catering.

To use this exclusive special rate members just need to add the promo code SANTAPOD when buying tickets on-line at
www.thelondonmotorshow.co.uk.

BDRHoF Gala sponsorship update.16th March: Lucas Oil Products UK has announced that it is renewing its sponsorship of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
Gala Awards Dinner, to be held on Saturday 18th November at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey. Lucas Oil will be joined by Kelsey Media
as joint hosts of the pre-dinner drinks reception, welcoming guests to an evening celebrating those who have helped the sport grow since its
beginning in the late 1950s.

Lucas Oil also sponsors the BDRHoF Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. In 2016 this was presented to the National Hot Rod Association for the
crucial role played by NHRA and its employees in organising, governing and growing the sport of drag racing throughout its sixty five years of
existence including the establishment of the FIA Drag Racing Commission which organises Championships in Europe and Australia. NHRA President
Peter Clifford sent a photo and message saying how thrilled they were with the award and that they are proudly displaying it in their Glendora
Headquarters' conference room.

Lucas Oil UK Managing Director Les Downey said "It is rewarding that British drag racing and Lucas Oil are represented in the sport's corridors
of power in California. Our company has a long history in drag racing and also sponsors the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame based in
Florida. And we are proud to continue our support of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner and this year act as joint hosts
of the pre-dinner drinks reception with our friends from Kelsey Media. As well as celebrating the sport's UK pioneers at the BDRHoF Gala, many
of whom have become personal friends of mine, Lucas Oil is committed to celebrating the young people entering drag racing by co-sponsoring two
tables for the Junior Drag Racing Champions and their families It is great that the 2017 Junior Drag Racing Champions can attend the Gala again
and meet so many legends of our sport. I know they really look forward to the occasion. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is doing important
work and I would encourage more companies to get involved". This Andy Willsheer photo was taken at the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner and shows,
from left, Les Downey of Lucas Oil Products UK, Don Schumacher and the 2016 Junior Drag Racing Champions. Sponsorship Partner and BDRHoF
International Liaison Advisor Geoff Stilwell of Beech Underwriting is on the right.

British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Limited CEO Brian Taylor said "I have known Les for many years and he is a true friend of drag racing. This
year the event will have a revised format aimed at streamlining the awards programme and providing more time for socialising. I can't think of
anyone better to welcome guests before the Awards Dinner and set the right atmosphere of the evening and I thank him for his support."

Joining Lucas Oil this year is Kelsey Media – a business now publishing a multitude of magazines and organising events covering the automotive
sector and many other areas too. A visit to their web site www.kelsey.co.uk shows you
the amazing breadth of their coverage these days. The world of drag racing knows them for Custom Car, a magazine which has been helping
to promote our sport since its launch in 1970. In 2007 the magazine was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for its long association
with the sport and, along with US Automotive, sponsored the Souvenir Programme for the 2014 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner.

Covering everything from low-budget traditional hot rods and customs to hi-tech street rods and 300 mph dragsters, the team of writers at Custom Car
bring together event coverage, technical articles, project cars, news and reviews and feature cars on a monthly basis. In addition, the magazine
offers a classified section for those looking to buy and sell. It is available in print and digital format and is part of the Fast Car Entertainment
event series which brings motoring enthusiasts together to celebrate their shared passion.

Managing Director of Kelsey Media Phil Weeden said "Kelsey Media, and in particular Custom Car magazine, are delighted to be supporting the
British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner. We're equally pleased to be sharing that support with a brand of repute like Lucas Oil. Custom
Car magazine is part of a growing family of motoring publications, web sites and events at Kelsey Media. All have a passion for motoring at their
heart. The knowledge and enthusiasm for cars in particular is especially evident in a brand like Custom Car magazine, which has been around now
for over forty years, reflecting the best in hot rods, customs and drag racers."

Honorary Chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Stu Bradbury said "Custom Car is part of our family, being inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 2007, and it is very rewarding that they are supporting us again. I remember when the magazine was launched and what a difference it made to
how drag racing was perceived by the public and sponsors. Of all the titles out there this is the one that has shown longevity in its association
with our sport and it is a special pleasure to welcome them back as a sponsor."

The BDRHoF is now taking reservations for the 2017 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone at 01933 279102.
This year the tickets are priced competitively at £65 which includes a pre-dinner reception. The event always sells out well in advance,
so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation
you will be given the procedure to book rooms at the negotiated room rate that includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking.

On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, on Eurodragster.com, and on
Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Big Bang,
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 21st-23rd April (racing 22nd-23rd). You can check out the entry list on our
John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Big Bang Event Index by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.

Festival of Power entry closes on 24th March and Big Bang entry closes on 31st March; you can download the official entry forms via the Information link
of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Festival of Power entry then you can contact Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44
1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Official entry forms for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway
on 29th April-1st May, are available to download from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway
web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.

The pit set up was, to say the least, impressive. Rat Trap had travelled in a recently acquired forty foot trailer and the Bantam
was tied down in the team's previous forty foot Gooseneck. Both trailers had been fitted with identical awnings and by the time they were
set up we had a covered area about the size of a football pitch. For three guys from England, it was more than we could have dreamed
of. The car had travelled well. There was a little organising to do but nothing too painful. Brian had equipped the trailer with a
complete set of hand tools and the only stuff we had shipped from Silverstone was some specialist tools and our spares. Scott and I
set about getting the car ready for Tech while Nick got things organised inside the trailer. By 6:00 that evening we were all but
done. There were a few details to finish up Thursday morning but assuming that the car cleared Tech, we were set for a short run
that afternoon.

That evening we all dined at Famous Dave's Barbeque, an establishment which thankfully isn't located anywhere close to where
I live in England. The ribs, oh boy the ribs...

Thursday 2nd March: Thursday started bright and sunny; it was to remain this way until Sunday morning. We had finished breakfast
and were headed to the track by 8:00 am. Apart from some questions regarding our International SFI chassis tag, Tech went smoothly.
Our Tech Inspector made a call to Danny Gracia for clarification on expiry dates and we got the all clear at around 2:30 that afternoon.
There was an open test session available from 3:00 pm and we hadn't been idle while waiting for Tech to sign us off. The car was warmed
up, the clutch, ignition and idle speed set, and we were good to go.

The only potential banana skin we could see was a tyre roll-out issue. The first time we set the pressure, our new slicks measured just
over an inch difference in circumference. If you're unfamiliar with this issue and can afford to waste five minutes of your life, cut
out two small circles of card, one a little bigger than the other. If you then push them onto each end of a pencil and roll it forwards
it'll go around in a circle. We have the same issue during a run. The rear axle is locked, and with the front end in the air any difference
in tyre roll out (circumference) will cause the car to rotate either towards the left or the right. To an extent we can correct this by
stretching the smaller of the two but the tyre has memory, making the job somewhat problematic. The slicks are bias-belted and the
construction is basically a viscoelastic matrix of fibre cords, polymers and fillers. At the risk of oversimplifying, it's something like
a plate of reinforced pasta. If over-inflated, areas in the matrix can break down and when the pressure is reduced to operating level the
circumference is increased slightly. The difficult part is that, over time, the tyre continues to recover so for a while it's like hitting
a moving target.

By the time we pulled out of the pit the difference was down to half an inch, the right rear being the larger of the two. Alarm bells
should have rung when Nick indicated that some right hand steering was needed to keep the car rolling straight but unfortunately, we were
excited and tired and missed the connection.

We were directed into lane four along with various other AA/FAs, Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars. The Fuel cars would run in pairs chosen
entirely at random. We had the right lane and hooked up the starter alongside Adam Sorokin's Top Fuel car. Unfortunately the Small Block
had an issue during start up and the team pushed back leaving us to début on a single.

Our first impressions of the track were great, it looked smooth and well prepped. The distance from the water to the staging beams is a
little shorter than at Santa Pod Raceway so the car needed to be reasonably well-centred when backing up after the burnout. At the hit we
lost cylinder #4 for about two tenths but after that the engine sounded fine. About thirty feet out our roll-out problem became apparent
and the car steered left. Nick rolled off the throttle to try to get the front down but no joy, the rear end steered the car toward the
centre line and that was that. It went 1.06 at sixty feet which is about as fast as it goes so we had something to smile about.

Back in the pits Nick dumped the Racepak data and it all looked good. Brian and the guys had finished up the last jobs on Rat Trap
and we were all set for Friday qualifying. The March Meet was underway.

Dinner that evening was at In-N-Out Burger. Stewart Bassett and Geoff Stilwell (of US
Automotive and Beech Underwriting respectively) had arrived that day
and we all set off, largely unwashed, at around 6:45 pm. My good friend Andy Willsheer had suggested we try a Double–Double with onions and
most of our group followed his advice. With our order placed we sat down at our table and Brian suggested I try one of the side dishes. I
asked what they were and Stewart Bassett indicated "Pickles". I selected one about the size of a cherry tomato and bit off just over half.
It was a rookie mistake. As the seeds turned the inside of my mouth into lava the entire Rat Trap team wet their pants laughing.
So much for the Transatlantic Special Relationship... I'd like to comment on the burger but with what was left of the inside of my mouth
it might as well have been a tennis ball.

Friday 3rd March: Brian suggested we start Friday with breakfast at Hardee's. I've always found cultural eating habits interesting,
what gets mixed with what and when so to speak. Sitting at the table drinking coffee while our American team-mates sipped 7Up and Pepsi is one
such example. We looked at each other and thought "How can you drink that stuff at 7:30 in the morning?". The all-inclusive breakfast sandwich
was great but it did hang around for a while, progressing at glacial speed towards my stomach and finally arriving at about 3:00 that afternoon.

Ron Hope, Kay Hudson and Brian's wife Rebecca arrived late Thursday, thus making both teams complete. We weren't scheduled to run until late
that afternoon so the pace around the pit was fairly steady. We hooked up with many of our travelling supporters and took some time to soak up
the atmosphere. Around midday Ron gathered us all together and made a presentation. As if we hadn't already received enough help, Lawrie Gatehouse
along with Bill and the entire Sherratt family had paid for our first barrel of nitro. If things were going to get better, it was difficult to
see how.

We got the call at around 4:00 pm. The warm-up had gone OK and Scott had spent some time messing with the roll-out before going to the Goodyear
trailer to check the balance. The steering was better, not perfect but a lot better. We sat in the lanes for a long time, Funny Car and Top Fuel
qualifying was a hard-fought affair and a few oildowns were inevitable. The sun went down around 6:30 pm and the temperature started to drop
dramatically. By the time it got to 7:30 pm it was getting cold. We had no official confirmation but it appeared that if the track temperature
got down to sixty degrees they'd call it a day. In conditions such as this it becomes less of a question of what the car can run and more of what
the track will take.

By the time we got to the top of the line Nick and I were debating a high-gear launch just to get something on the board. It would probably cost
us a clutch pack but with only two qualifiers, the first of which was in cold conditions, we had little choice. In the event, when the Bantam
rolled through the water it was sixty two degrees. Nick ran it in low gear for about thirty feet then punched the button. The car fell on its
face but stayed in the middle of the lane and ran a 6.57 at 223 mph, good enough for third spot. Bad news was to follow. Half way through the
burnout, Rat Trap pushed #2 spark plug out of the head and the team were unable to make a run. Going into final qualifying it would be
our third hit at the startline but for our team-mates it would be their first.

Back in the pits Nick dumped the data and Scotty drained the oil. On the tow-back, headlights had illuminated the smoke coming from the clutch
can. At this time of day I had no interest in dealing with the remnants, it was 9:30 pm and we were exhausted. Brian and Keith set about servicing
Rat Trap and repairing the damaged cylinder head. We made our excuses, loaded the car and tools into the trailer and headed for the hotel.
There was a small Mexican restaurant close by and dinner was a brief and light affair. The magnitude of the weekend was telling; you can hide
stress from the outside world but your body knows. We were dead on our feet.

Saturday 4th March: The event was gaining momentum. The joking and messing around we enjoyed during the first couple of days had started
to give way to a more focused atmosphere. We had one shot left, our team-mates hadn't yet qualified and we were a lifetime away from safe. This
change in approach accelerated somewhat when, as we arrived at the track, the announcer indicated that our 4:00 pm qualifier had been moved up
to 12:30 pm. There was enough time but we had to get to work. Check the bearings, fit a new clutch pack, mix the fuel, lube the valvetrain and
accommodate a few interviews. By 11:00 am we were done. Scotty kept chasing the roll-out problem and when we pulled out of the pit we were in
decent shape. It was business as usual for Ron, Brian and the Rat Trap guys. It was the environment in which they lived.

We eventually ran at about 3:15 pm. The staging lanes were organised so that we could run together, Ron in the left and Nick in the right.
Our run was a little better, a 6.34 at 234 mph looked a little more likely to keep us in and at close of play it was enough for fourth. Ron
had his hands full in the left. Brian has been fighting one or two dropped cylinders during the early part of a run and when they light up
Ron spends the rest of the run with the car's front end in the air. A 6.77 at 219 mph was good enough to qualify but by the end of the session
the little Bantam was ninth. Unless someone couldn't make the first round, Rat Trap Racing would go into Sunday with one car.

Dinner that evening was at the Outback steak restaurant. I can't explain why the steaks in the US are so good; Nick suggested that
maybe the cows are just "Nicer" and frankly I can't think of anything better.

Sunday 5th March: Sunday morning brought rain. The farmers celebrated and we went looking for rope. The ever-changing forecast did
little to help, surely we hadn't come this far just go home with a rain-out ticket. Running the race on Monday brought unwanted complications as
our flight was due to leave at 9:00 pm that evening. As luck would have it, by about 11:30 am the rain started to clear and the early afternoon
found us in the staging lanes waiting for our first round. During qualifying, our fuel mix had been close to 88%, in the first round it was back
up to 90%. History has taught us that if we're short on pace, there's little point in making a guess at something better. We just take our A Game
to the start line and if we come up short, so be it.

Our opponent was Keith Wilson in the Witch Doctor, a car which had been deep into the five-second zone. To be honest, the race was going to be
tough because we weren't fast enough. To make a fist of it, we needed to be closer to the 6.00 index. For our opponents, slowing a mid five-second
car down to 6.00 wasn't exactly going to be a walk in the park either. There were no games on the start line. Nick had indicated fuel on his visor
during the burnout and at the hit, it was shower head. We enjoyed a hundredth's advantage at the start but by the eighth the Witch Doctor
was in another post code. Unable to see much by now, Nick rolled off the throttle and we took a first round loss on the chin.

The mood in the pit was a little subdued, but after a short while the smiles returned and we were prepping the car for its long trip back to
Tennessee. It was Rat Trap team member Junior's birthday and another trip to Famous Dave's Barbeque was planned for the evening.
With the race over, it was a more relaxed affair, the ribs were great but the company was better. What a weekend.

As ever our sincere thanks go to the Hope family, Lawrie Gatehouse, Geoff Stilwell at Beech Underwriting and of course, US Automotive's larger
than life Stewart Bassett. To everyone who has made a donation, many thanks. You've no idea how much it helps.

On AA/FA 6.00: Class performance is somewhat defined by technical regulations. If your car runs seven flat and it's a Super Stocker,
you're probably Harry Potter. If it's an Alcohol Funny Car you should probably consider another career. However, without a credible Championship
and sufficient long-term funding, writing a set of technical regulations is a waste of time. In the absence of a rule book, racers will naturally
build whatever takes their fancy and such is the case with the AA/Fuel Altereds. Bringing a large cross-section of cars together for a single
eliminator is probably only viable if an index is in place. The 6.00 number appears to be a good fit for the type of cars most people have built.
If the tracks continue to run the format, over time I'd expect application-specific AA/FA 6.00 cars to start appearing. If you're a fan of the
short cars, you're probably north of fifty. Despite their enormous popularity, very few people build cars which truly mirror those that ran in
the late sixties. For a 108" car with 25% engine set back, a string of 6.00s is a lot to ask. When Ron Hope runs a mid six there's not much left
on the table. Over time their numbers will likely diminish so if you're a fan of cars like Pure Hell, Bradfords Fiat, Pure
Heaven and Rat Trap I suggest you take every opportunity available to go and watch them. Buy a T-shirt and meet the teams. Nothing
lasts forever.

Quote of the meeting from outside our pit:

Upon arriving at the top end with yet another engine smouldering in the front of his Funny Car, our hero was met by a concerned fire marshal
asking if his car was on fire. His reply: "As slow as this thing's runnin', I sure ******' hope so".

Quote of the meeting from inside our pit:

After our Sunday warm-up Brian quizzed me about our idle speed. I informed him that it sounded high because, in order to save fuel, Nick turns
the fuel shut-off half open. Brian replied "We've got two trailers full of nitro. Burn it. Burn it all."

School Report: Good effort, must try harder. If we'd picked up the tyre roll out issue sooner it would be a B+ but we didn't so, I give
us a straight B.

As ever we have a number of cars on display with seasoned favourites plus some new builds for 2017. If you love your modified VWs (Audis, Skodas, SEATs, Porsches)
then UD17 is a great day out for you, it's only £10 for Saturday (evening only) or £15 for Sunday. You can find out more at
www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk.

Also we are happy to announce another sponsor for the anniversary season in the form of Hangar 30. Ben Speechley has been around the VWDRC for many years,
supplying suspension components and custom fabrication to our racers. In 2016 he created Hangar 30 offering custom fabrication, roll cages and track day preparation
as well as general car servicing and repairs from his workshop in Ely, Cambridgeshire. Over the winter Ben has already fitted roll cages to four new racers for VW Pro,
these along with a great number of racers are leading up to a very busy and exciting season.

As always a massive thank you to our 2017 sponsors Darkside Developments, Vanology Performance Ltd, Kleanfreaks, Engine Carbon Clean, WRP Paint and Restoration,
Brickfield Autos, BJ's Speedshop, Trackstuff Racing Fuels and Tyres, Starsz Hair and Beauty and of course Hangar 30 who between them have amassed over £5000
of prize fund for the VWDRC racers to fight for.

Webster's Battery of assistance.10th March: Eurodragster.com sponsor Webster
Race Engineering's new Pro Mod project is underway, the aim being to get out on track as soon as possible. Jon Webster writes:

We've had great interest in the project since the announcement in January. Progress on the build is good and on target. We've got some correspondence going back and
forth looking for support and technical partners, with some very positive feedback.

One area of the car getting particular attention is weight. The target legal minimum weight for the turbo vehicles is 2650 lbs with driver. We're targeting a lot less so that
we have the option of moving the mass around for chassis tuning. Analysis of the weight and location of all components is key to mass distribution within the car and
as this is a fresh build we can appraise each item individually for its spec and potential location.

The battery is a key component on any vehicle, but also very often of considerable weight and size. With some research and several E-Mails and phone conversations
we found a product that fitted our requirements. Antigravity Batteries produce a range of
extremely compact Lithium-Ion batteries for large range of Vehicles in OEM standard sizes, with over two and a half times the cranking power of lead-acid versions.
They are readily available in the UK and are priced very competitively.

Antigravity Batteries have become technical partners with us on the Mustang and we will be using their ATX20 unit, which has 780 Cranking Amps and 25 Ah. The unit
weighs less than 5 lbs making a weight saving of more than 30 lbs over our usual choice of battery. With an overall size of 175 x 87 x 155mm, the unit reduces limitations
for the location within the car.

Webster Race Engineering will be agents in the near future. Meanwhile if anyone has any interest in their product range, Antigravity Batteries are located in Essex and
can be reached via their web site at www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk or call
01702 301664.

No trouble at the Mills.10th March: UK Outlaw Anglia team Cooper
Bros Racing are proud to announce Mills CNC as a sponsor for the 2017 season. Mat Cooper
writes:

Mills CNC is one of, if not the, fastest-growing machine tool companies in the UK. Mills are highly-regarded and -respected in the machine tool market and
across all those manufacturing sectors they serve: aerospace and defence, power generation, motorsport, oil and gas, medical, automotive and general
precision component manufacture, to name but a few.

If you or your company are in the market for a new state of the art CNC machine look no further than Mills CNC. If you have any questions regarding the latest
Doosan CNC machines then feel free to contact us via our Facebook page,
contact Mills CNC directly via www.millscnc.co.uk or via their
Facebook page, or drop by our pit at any Outlaw Anglia meetings.
Support the companies which support our drag racing family!

Swift snippets.10th March: Good luck and stay safe to Sweden's Adam Flamholc who is contesting Extreme Pro Mod at this weekend's
NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem at Bradenton Motorsports Park. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress via the free Speed Video webcast
at www.livestream.com/speedvideo/nmca-muscle-car-mayhem-2017.

On the subject of drag racing webcasts the excellent 1320 Online web site offers a detailed daily schedule of webcasts from
around the planet including Eurodragster.com's own Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam (Thanks Barney - Ed).
You can stay up to date with all the latest webcast offerings at www.1320online.com.

Monday's spy picture elicited a single response, to whit: "The dog is named Olive
but if it's going to sit underneath a Ford it should be Oily". We are naturally honour-bound to protect the identity of the
colourfully-pantalooned Super Pro ET Funny Car racer from the north of England our source.

Geoff Stilwell of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame sponsor Beech
Underwriting Agencies asked us to say a big Happy 79th Birthday for today (Friday) to US Fuel legend Bob Muravez. Geoff
tells us that he and Ron Hope sprung a surprise on Bob at Bakersfield (above). "Everyone in the pit area sang Happy Birthday
to Bob", says Geoff. "Earlier, as a special treat, Ron put Bob in Rat Trap for a warm-up just to give him his nitro fix. Bob was
wearing a replica of his original firesuit."

Robin Jackson tells us that Motor Sport magazine's prestigious Hall Of Fame contains a category for American racing personalities and that
this year's twelve US nominees include a single drag racer, John Force. For more information, visit the Hall Of Fame voting page at
www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame/who-will-be-next.
Scroll down through the categories and select your favourite candidates. All votes will be entered in a free prize draw for various Motor Sport
goodies, including tickets to the Hall Of Fame Awards Dinner itself, which this year retail at a cool £399 apiece. The event takes place on Wednesday 7th
June at the Royal Automobile Club, Woodcote Park, Surrey. Be sure to cast your votes in good time.

Web site updates.10th March: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with
Gearhead Garage Paul Marston brings us up to date with the
construction of his twin-turbo Cortina. You can take a look by clicking
here or by clicking on the Gearhead Garage Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.

Festival of Power entry closes on 24th March; you can download the official entry forms via the Information link
of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Festival of Power entry then you can contact Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44
1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Swift snippets.8th March: Kathy Taylor asked us to say a big Happy special Birthday to her good friend Lesley Wright.
We're very happy to do so, have a lovely day Lesley and love and hugs from us too.

STTG, ET Bike run at Big Bang.7th March: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club
Secretary Ian Marshall for letting us know that, subsequent to discussion at the recent UK Riders' and Drivers'
Meeting and at the AGM of the National Association of Supertwins, Supertwin Top Gas and ET Bike
will have an additional UK National Championship round at Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway on 21st-23rd April
(racing takes place on 22nd-23rd).

Supertwin Top Gas and ET Bike join 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike which already had a UK National Championship round
at Big Bang.

The official Big Bang entry forms will be amended to suit and will be available on the SPRC web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc on or by Friday of this week, 10th March.

You can check out the amended full UK National Championships calendar in our report of the UK Riders' and Drivers'
Meeting by clicking here. If you have any queries then you can contact
Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

Swift snippets.7th March: We would like to wish a big Happy 40th Birthday to our good buddy and
Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Spencer Tramm. Have a great day Spencer. A big Happy Birthday
also to alcohol tuner Karl Harrison; you have a great day too Karl.

Hydro Navitas Solutions is a name with which you may not be familiar, but Cold Fire Firefighting might just be. Lift the body of any
Fuel Funny Car and look inside and you might just see a Cold Fire Firefighting fire suppression system staring up at you. Santa Pod
Raceway have been using Cold Fire Firefighting for almost ten years and it is regarded as the very best firefighting product available.
Hydro Navitas Solutions are Santa Pod's official firefighting partners, and are now in their second year as lane sponsor with the Cold
Fire Firefighting lane.

Continuing their support for drag racing in 2017, Hydro Navitas Solutions are proud to announce that they will be sponsoring Steve
Ashdown's exciting move into the European Nitro Funny Car series, driving the Undertaker Funny Car in 2017 with their Cold
Fire Firefighting brand.

Hydro Navitas Solutions' CEO James Petter said "I got a call from Kath Taylor who was helping Steve raise funds, she asked for ten
minutes of my time, there was only one reply I could give her - yes! I was presented with a very professional Undertaker
portfolio which got me hooked. In fact, even though I didn't say it there and then, I knew we had to help Steve achieve his own
dream of driving in this series, and with Cold Fire Firefighting it made for a great partnership.

"I must say that Dave Bryant has a great team back at the Undertaker garage, Steve has an impressive support team behind
him and I wish him every success in 2017. We are glad to do our bit for this amazing sport."

Steve told Eurodragster.com that Fuel FC was where he wanted to be. "I got the opportunity to drive Top Fuel thanks to Rune
and Lindsay", he said. "Then it all went a bit crazy and I ended up agreeing to do extra events. Words can't describe how that
felt.

"Then the plot thickened! I was going to take a year out to concentrate on Tyler's racing but at the end of last season I was
asked if I would like to drive Shockwave. I had a quick chat with the family and then a meeting was set up with Gordon
Smith and and Dave Bryant to discuss plans. After a couple of hours we came to an agreement, shook hands and agreed to do
the full season in the 2017 Funny Car Championship. I am looking forward to it and I will be getting in there and getting my hands
dirty!

"I am really looking forward to it and I have some great sponsors on board. You have read about Cold Fire Firefighting, I am pleased
to say that my original sponsors are staying with me as well as new backers: Dave at Robey Scaffolding, Adrian at The Phone Shop,
and Richard Deevey has been a gem. As well as Cold Fire Firefighting my new sponsors for the season include Anthony from Aspect
Contracts Ltd, Les Downey at Lucas Oil UK, Alex Bateman at Goodridge Hoses, Graham and Mark at Serck Motorsport, Michela at Champion
Spark Plugs, Liam Jones TFJ Motorsport and Gary at Fast2Finish Printers.

"I would like to say a big Thank You to Kathy Taylor and Darren Prentice for their help, to Pete Walters for the design and shirts, awesome
work as usual, Dave, Gordon and the entire Shockwave team for the opportunity and for making not just me but my family feel so
welcome. Thanks to Keith Bartlett and the Santa Pod Raceway staff for continued support of the Nitro Funny Car series, to Dave Bateman
and family for all their help through the years, to Paul Marston for all his help and advice because this really all began with the Paul
Marston Drag Race Driving School, and to Tog and Eurodragster.com for their help (Thanks, you're welcome, milk and none in mine - Ed). Finally the
biggest thanks go to my family for all of their support."

March Meet update IV.6th March: The UK's Havoc Fuel Altered made a first-round exit in yesterday's
eliminations at the March Meet at Bakersfield. Gary Willy writes:

It was always going to be a big challenge against Keith Wilson's Witch Doctor Fuel Altered which has run as quickly as
5.73 seconds at 249 mph. Nick Davies ran a losing 6.91/152 and not without problems as Rob Loaring indicated that there
was a fuel leak at the hit (Nick's visor being the Official Receiver - Ed). The Witch Doctor streaked ahead running 6.13/189,
lifting early so as to not break out of the 6.0 index.

The whole weekend was however a fantastic achievement for the Havoc team (Hear hear - Ed).

Swift snippets.6th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the
words "Old Fords never die, they just get faster". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture,
then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.

Best wishes to the UK's Richie Webb who has made it into September's Hot Rod Drag Week with one of his wild VWs.
Entry sold out in six minutes so securing an entry for the street-legal event is grounds for congratulation in itself.
Richie faces six races in six days driving between tracks carrying or towing what he needs. You can find out more by
clicking
here.

Electric shock Hazard.6th March: The UK's Adam Withington will be making a return to the track in the Hazard Racing Junior
Dragster later this season. Dad and Super Street racer David Withington writes that Adam's car has a different power plant to that
we last saw nearly four years ago:

The Briggs and Stratton 5 hp engine has been replaced with an electric motor. We think that this should be a natural progression as electric cars are
becoming more common and even appear in Street Eliminator. We understand that this will be totally against the grain with the rule book as it is written
around the use of a side valve engine, but things must move with the times.

We are currently testing the new motor and making adjustments before the first outing mid-season. The new motor can accelerate from 0 to its maximum RPM
within 250 metres, which as you can imagine has caused a few issues such as throwing the motor windings and smoking tyres. We are currently tuning the control
system to smooth out the acceleration and adding additional safety features to kill all power if anything fails. The custom control system has been designed by GFX
Power Ltd in Cannock and has been created from scratch using some of the most up-to-date equipment available. Their strapline Power With Control definitely
rings true, as a lot of power without control is pretty useless.

Adam says that will be a whole new challenge and that he is looking forwards to the return.

Congratulations to Nick Davies, Rob Loaring and the Havoc team on a new Personal Best speed of 234.49 mph in
qualifying, coupled with a 6.349 which was good for fourth spot. Gary Willy writes that a new
clutch pack was put in before yesterday's qualifier. Geoff Stilwell adds that Havoc has top
speed so far in the Fuel Altered class.

In round one of eliminations Nick faces Keith Wilson in the Witch Doctor. Geoff writes that
the car is all good and the team are ready.

Nick Davies is currently third in Fuel Altered qualifying with a 6.57 at 223 mph in the dark. Geoff Stilwell writes that there were long delays
due to a number of oildowns. "The track was getting slick and was only 68F and the air temp was down to 60F", he says. "Nick pulled a fantastic burnout and before we knew it he had run
a 6.57/223. No lights at all in the shutdown area! That time currently puts Nick in third, and we have another qualifying session today.

"Ron Hope in Rat Trap had to shut the engine down as it blew a spark plug clean out of the cylinder head. But it is all repaired and ready to go today."

Gary Willy writes:

Friday it got real for the Havoc team at the forty ninth running of the legendary March Meet.
Going into the first qualifier after a test launch on Thursday Nick now had the layout of the
track, run off area and procedures and as always the team were calm professional and businesslike.

If it had gone to plan there would have been two qualifying sessions for Nitro Funny Car and Top
Fuel slingshot and a single qualifier for the Fuel Altereds. In the first session of Funny Car, twenty eight
cars lined up in the lanes and the number one qualifier was the McAttack car of Mick McIntire Jr
with a record-breaking ET of 5.549. Ten Fuel slingshots joined the party.

As the day progressed with a couple of major oildowns and a car clipping the wall the schedule started to slip away.
At 5:00 pm they were still just getting through the last of the 7.0 Pro class. With thirty eight plus Nitro Funny Cars
and Dragsters to get down the track everyone knew it was going to be a late night.

The first Fuel Altered fired up at around 7:00 pm and we had fourteen Fuel Altereds going into the black of night
for their first qualifier, the Havoc car getting to the line at around 7.30 pm and coming out sounding strong and ready
for business. A good burnout and the car was then nicely backed up by Paula Clayton and brought to the line by Rob.
Nick ran 6.57/223 putting the Havoc team an outstanding third qualifying position everything the Havoc team could
wish for as we go into today's qualifying.

When I started racing a few years back I was having some issues finding a suit which not only fit me but which I actually liked. I came across a company called
AWS Racewear in Ashford in Kent. I found the company excellent to deal with and they helped me out with not only with my suit but with crew shirts also.
I am now on my fourth suit made by AWS and I'm still as happy with them as I was when they made my first. Nick runs a very tight ship and has the very best staff.
They use the best materials to keep in line with FIA and SFI standards. They can also look after gloves, boots and helmets.

I am very pleased to say that AWS Racewear is now on our list of sponsors this year. I would like to thank Nick and all his staff for yet another great looking suit
and hope to see them in the pits this year.

Nick Davies' first run in the Havoc Fuel Altered gained the team their best-ever sixty foot time of 1.05 seconds. Nick pedalled
and then shut off as the car made a move to the left, clocking an 8.0-second time; Geoff Stilwell tells us that the move was due to an
issue with the right slick which has been sorted.

Geoff adds that the engine checked out fine after the run and that Nick, Rob and the team are looking forward to today's qualifying.

UK event entry update.3rd March: Further to last Sunday's
report of the UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting Jerry Cookson writes that the official entry forms for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, which
takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 29th April-1st May, are now available to download from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site
at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Entry forms for the APIRA Open
Sport Nationals will be posted in due course.

Entry forms for all of this season's events at Santa Pod Raceway are available via the Information link of the Santa Pod
Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Tet has to sit it out.3rd March: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Tethys has been in touch with a response to those who have
asked about his 2017 plans:

It's a somewhat expected turn of events - for me, at least - that I have fans! I thought I'd clear things up here. The
simple answer is that I won't be racing this year. This is not through lack of desire, nor even the perennial lack of
money which plagues racers. No, it's because at the end of last year, the universe decided to roll out the big guns and
use its favourite way to ruin someone's day by giving me cancer.

In January, I had surgery to remove a tumour. The initial indications are that the operation was a success, and the
prognosis is good. But dealing with it has been occupying a large amount of my time over the past few months, and
something had to give. That something was racing.

I would like to hope that I'll be back in a race car again in the future, once things have settled down a bit, but for
now my health is my main priority. All being well, I plan to be at the track for at least the Main Event and maybe other
meetings, so do come and say hello. But I won't be driving, and will just be there as a spectator. Good luck to all
those taking part this season.

Nick, Rob and Scott arrived in LA safely on Tuesday evening and drove straight to Bakersfield. The aim is to run the car in free practice today: to quote Nick "We are not here to make up the
numbers!"

For his own part Geoff is proud to announce that Iskenderian Race Cams have come on board to sponsor him and to help him to achieve his LSR goals in 2017. "I delivered to Brian Hope at
Rat Trap Racing the new cam which Isky ground for me a couple of weeks ago", he says.

Geoff also showed us what NHRA racers get up to when they are not racing; in this case flying. Funny Car racer Tim Wilkerson made it possible
for legendary US racer and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Ambassador Bob Muravez to take a flight in this beautiful piece.

Gary Willy writes from Bakersfield that although competition will be tough with as many as twenty four Fuel Altereds in attandance
the Havoc team are certainly match fit:

We caught up with the team late yesterday afternoon and all was well with a couple of small alterations needed on the car for
tech inspection. Hopefully the car will be out for a shakedown pass today as the team as the team get the car dialled into the track,

The track preparation at Famoso facility is second to none thanks to the efforts of the Bowser family and track management.

Alders offer transmission dyno.2nd March: Richard Alder of Eurodragster.com sponsor Alders
Automotive tells us that the company has recently installed a transmission dyno:

We found that more of our customers were asking if the transmissions could be tested after undergoing a rebuild and with increased sales on our race transmissions
we decided to import a transmission dyno from the USA. This dyno will allow us to check all of our popular American and race transmissions before delivery. We can
run the transmission and check transmission pressures, shifts and cooler flow.

This has given our customers peace of mind that they can buy with confidence knowing that their transmission has been dyno-tested before delivery allowing them
to focus on their race meeting. The photo shows one of our full-race Powerglide transmissions on the dyno.

It would appear that we have a coding error and that the rule book is not present on those sticks already sent out. The remaining memory sticks are being
re-tested and all of the information copied again to ensure that all of the information is present.

For those members who already have a memory stick, please note that we will be sending a locked PDF file to you via E-Mail by the end of the week. You
can then save it to the memory stick if you so choose, or keep it as a separate file.

We apologise for the error but we will have it sorted out as soon as possible.

If you have any queries then you can contact Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.

FIM Europe SSB Round 1 entry open.1st March: Alexandra Tóth has been in touch with an update on the first round of the
2017 FIM Europe Super Street Bike Cup, which this year takes
place at the Car and Bike Celebrity of May event at Kunmadaras
in Hungary on 29th April-1st May:

Our race series in Kunmadaras turns twenty years old this year, so we have many surprises and new features at the event. In addition, FIM Europe has
approved Street Freestyle as an official European branch of motorsport, and has given the rights to Hungary to organise a one-round European Cup which
will also take place at Kunmadaras.

So all in all we will have many new interesting programmes and two European Cups in Kunmadaras between 29th April and 1st May, and everybody is
welcome.

Welcome Dyno Unlimited.1st March: We are very pleased to welcome Belgian Top Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio's business
Dyno Unlimited as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News.

Dyno Unlimited is located in Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium, and can handle engines which are naturally aspirated, turbocharged,
supercharged, gasoline or alcohol, carburettor, mechanical injection or EFI, from a regular street engine up to a 4000 horsepower
race engine. Danny writes:

The benefit of putting your engine combination on the dyno is that you get a base tune-up in a safe manner instead of risking
breaking parts on the track. Potential engine or tune-up problems can be spotted and mended before damage occurs.

We rent out the dyno unit with an operator, engine mounting, water cooling if needed, and logging sensors. The customer will
need to bring their own oil, spark plugs, tools, service parts if needed, and mechanic if servicing is needed in between test
pulls. The customer will also need to provide a test plan, what is expected from the dyno and how they wish to test their engine.

The dyno can be rented per hour with fee dependent on the type of engine being tested. Engines which need to be serviced between
pulls require mechanics to be present although we can also provide the service, parts, and tuning aids and tips at additional cost.

What we offer is a safe base tune-up in an environment where the engine is constantly being monitored in real time and any problems
can be spotted before damage is done.

1st March is the start of Eurodragster.com's sponsorship year. We are very pleased to say that almost all of our sponsors have
renewed for this season and a big Thank You to all for their continued support. Sadly we are saying goodbye and thank you to
long-standing Eurodragster.com sponsor and recently-retired Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners' company Cosmo Residences, and to 2016-17
sponsor GF Innovations.

Please show your appreciation of those who support Eurodragster.com and our sport by considering our sponsors when shopping for
anything from a race vehicle to parts, services or support.